Food is a companion

Passport & Plate - Nasi Goreng

Indonesia | Thursday, March 13, 2014 | 2 photos

Ingredients
*Note - Ingredients are listed in order of use.

Garnish
1 Fried egg
1/2 Fried Shallot
1/2 Tomato
25g Cucumber + a pinch of sea salt

For the flavor paste
5g Garlic
1/2 Thumb size ginger
1/4 Tsp mixed black and white peppercorns
1/2 Red chilli
1/2 Shallot
Pinch sea salt

Fried rice
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
1 Small carrot cut like match sticks
25g Broad beans cut thinly at an angle
75g Boiled white rice
3 Tsp Kecap Manis (sweet thick soy sauce)

 

How to prepare this recipe
1) Thinly slice the shallot and fry until golden and crisp. Soak on a piece of kitchen paper.
2) Fry the egg to your liking, sunny side up is perfect for mixing with the rice!
3) Place the egg on a piece of kitchen paper and leave to one side with the shallots.
4) Cut 1cm slices of tomato or make a rose for beautiful presentation.
5) Peel thin delicate slices of cucumber with a speed peeler then place in a bowl, add a pinch of sea salt and squeeze ever so gently to release the water. Leave to one side with the tomato until ready to use.
6) In a pestle and mortar crush the garlic, ginger,peppercorns, red chilli and shallot. Go slowly so they don't explode everywhere! Press down hard on the garlic and ginger to extract the moisture and add a pinch of sea salt to help mush it together. It should look a little pink when you are finished with it.
7) Add 1 tbsp of sunflower oil to a hot non stick pan.
8) Drop the paste into the pan and fry for 2minutes. (Be careful - the ginger will make the pan spit oil)
9) Toss in the carrots and broad beans and cook for 3 minutes.
10) Add the boiled rice and with the back of your spatula mush and smash the rice into the frying pan.You want to infuse the rice with all the excellent flavor you have just created and sweated for!
11) Drizzle in 3 tsp's of Kecap Manis and again toss, mix, shuffle, smush and mash all together! This is important for the color and overall flavor of the dish!
12) Take a bowl and fill with the rice, turn it on to a plate. You have a dome now - beautiful traditional presentation.
13) Delicately place the tomato,cucumber and fried egg on top of the rice mountain!
14) Scatter the fried shallots over the top of the dish.

 

The story behind this recipe
This is a recipe I have learned from my father. I am half Irish and half Indonesian. My mom and dad divorced when I was 2 years old and I have seen him very rarely throughout my entire life. He is a chef and an excellent one at that! I decided to take a gap year from college while on my 2nd year hospitality placement in France. The main thing for me was to confront my dad and try get past that hole in my life. Books and studies were left at home and I was adventure bound to south east Asia.
I arrived at his little house about 1 month ago. I was nervous and exhausted! It was awkward - he talks like a big man and that hurts my ears. I was starving and he offered to make Nasi Goreng. It was all he could make with the ingredients he had in the kitchen.But that is Nasi Goreng, a classic dish made from leftovers, 'Poor Mans Food' in Italian terms.
We found common ground - food. Simple yes but the flavor of this dish enticed questions about flavor, about food combinations and about the food that belongs to half my heritage! I was enthralled by what he was doing and for a split second I was proud in a way to be his daughter. Food to me is like water to fish - without it I will die but without the exploration of it I know I will shrivel up and cry!
The reason why I have chosen this dish is because it signifies how food is a continuous companion in my life. It can get me through anything and I can understand a culture by learning a countries food. With my dad it allowed me oversee his arrogance and 'big guy' character and appreciate his talented cooking skills! I fell into a trance through ever bite of his Nasi Goreng - I forgot about everything and allowed myself complement him which was a huge thing.
Food was the only thing I found in common with him. I was grateful to learn from a culinary genius. As for our relationship, well I will bring with me the food he thought me and leave the rest behind.