Nasi Goreng means “fried rice” in both the Malay and Indonesian languages. The history of Nasi Goreng can be dated back hundreds of years ago, when leftover rice was stir fried to kill harmful bacteria and to also avoid the need to throw out precious food. Influenced by the Chinese fried rice during the ancient trade, Nasi Goreng is Indonesia’s twist on this classic dish.

Nasi Goreng is also called the national dish of Indonesia due to its popularity. In most Indonesian households, Nasi Goreng is eaten at any time of the day. It’s often even served for breakfast in Indonesian hotels and restaurants. 

Today, it’s also a popular late-night supper sold from street vendors almost anywhere in Indonesia. If you took a trip to a 7/11 in Indonesia, you’d probably also find frozen Nasi Goreng ready to microwave and eat.

The rice dish is traditionally cooked with meat, vegetables, spices and sweet soy sauce. Unlike other types of Asian fried rice, Nasi Goreng has a distinguished aroma due to the generous amount of caramelized sweet soy sauce and the addition of shrimp paste. It has an earthy and smoky flavour, and the taste is stronger and spicier compared to its cousin, the Chinese fried rice.

Though there may be different variations of the Nasi Goreng, a common ingredient across every recipe is the sweet soy sauce, or kecap manis.

The secret is to use a high quality kecap manis in your Nasi Goreng, such as ABC Sweet Soy Sauce, an authentic, high quality product made in Indonesia, naturally sweetened with sun-dried palm sugar, which gives it a distinct and intense combination of sweet, savoury, slightly smoky, malty, toffee-like flavours.

If you’re passionate about food like us, you will instantly find the difference in aroma, colour and taste when using ABC Sweet Soy Sauce, the top selling kecap manis in Australia. Once you’ve tried using this sweet soy sauce in your Nasi Goreng, you will never settle for anything less.