Hari raya recipe: Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta’s ‘nasi goreng kluwak’

One can put various twists on fried rice, or nasi goreng, and Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta's chef de cuisine, Prasetyo Widodo, came up with the idea of adding kluwak (black nut), a type of plant typically found in Southeast Asia, to his fried rice.

"I use kluwak to highlight its usage in Indonesian cuisine," he said, adding that the plant was used in various Indonesian dishes, such as rawon, ikan gabus pucung and sop konro.

"I [also] mix kluwak with seafood, because the shrimp has a savory taste and kluwak has a pleasant aroma and a bit of a bitter taste. When added with crab meat, it creates a refreshing aroma."

Prasetyo offered advice for those wishing to try and cook the dish at home. This includes the tip to use only cold steamed rice to produce a more dry result, small shrimps with a ratio of 51-60 shrimps per kilogram for a more savory taste, mud crab as, it has a lot of meat, and only the head part of bean sprouts to create a more crispy taste.

He added that cooking fried rice required a large, hot fire. "If you use a hot fire, each grain of the rice will be separated, which means it gets a little bit burnt to create a charred [sensation]." (kes)

Read also: Ramadhan recipe: Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta's 'garang asam ayam'

Ingredients

200 gr cold steamed rice

50 gr shrimp (51/60 pieces)

30 gr crab meat

100 gr chicken egg

10 gr short bean sprout (head)

5 gr spring onion

1 gr fried shallot

50 gr kluwak paste

25 ml sweet soy sauce

30 ml vegetable oil

2 gr salt

1 gr white pepper

Ground spices (kluwak paste)

50 gr shallot

20 gr garlic

100 gr kluwak

20 gr turmeric

20 gr red chili

5 gr coriander

5 gr ginger

30 ml water

Method

Finely blend the ground spices: shallot, garlic, kluwak, turmeric, red chili, coriander and ginger to create the kluwak paste. After you have finished, cook the paste slowly in a pan with 30 ml of water for approximately 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan with a large fire, sautee chopped garlic and shallot until it creates a pleasant aroma.

Add egg, cold steamed rice and the kluwak paste.

Add shrimp, bean sprout and crab meat.

Season with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Add spring onion, finish and serve hot. You can add desired garnishes, with the example of crackers and pickles.

Source: Hari raya recipe: Hotel Indonesia Kempinski Jakarta's 'nasi goreng kluwak'