Nasi Goreng

Nasi goreng is day-old rice stir-fried hard and fast with garlic, shallot, sambal and a generous splash of kecap manis, the sweet, syrupy soy sauce that gives it its dark colour and faint caramel edge. It's Indonesia's everyday dish, cooked at home for breakfast as often as bought from a warung at midnight, and it's the one dish most guests outside Indonesia can already name before they sit down.

What it really is

Rice cooked the day before, dried out enough that the grains separate rather than clump, goes into a hot wok with a paste of pounded shallot, garlic and sambal fried first until fragrant. Kecap manis goes in next, coating the rice and turning it a deep mahogany brown as the sugar catches slightly at the wok's edge. A fried egg — usually sunny-side up, its edges crisped and lacy — sits on top rather than being folded through, and the plate comes with a scatter of shrimp crackers, sliced cucumber and tomato alongside.

What separates nasi goreng from any other fried rice in the region is the kecap manis. Thai and Chinese versions season with fish sauce or light soy and stay pale; nasi goreng is built to be dark and faintly sweet, and a version made without kecap manis, however well executed, is a different dish wearing the same name.

How it's served

• On a plate, fried egg on top, krupuk (shrimp crackers) alongside.
• With sliced cucumber, tomato and a wedge of lime.
• With extra sambal on the side for guests who want more heat than the rice already carries.

How to write it on the menu

• Say what protein, if any, is folded through — chicken, shrimp and leftover satay are all common additions.
• Flag the egg and the soy in the kecap manis.
• Offer to hold the sambal rather than assuming every guest wants the dish as spicy as a warung makes it.