Nasi Bakar

Indonesian steamed rice in banana leaf (Chicken basil ver.)

I love to pack this when I want something easy to bring but more filling than a sandwich

There are a lot of versions out there, from fish, squid, tempeh, etc but the one that I always make is this spicy shredded basil chicken

Ingredients:

Rice:

• 200gr rice

• 300mL water

• 2-3 shallots

• 2 lemongrass

• 2-3 bay leaves

• ~1 inch galangal / 1 tsp powdered galangal

• 2 tbsp butter

• salt

Chicken:

• 200gr chicken

• 1/2 lime

• salt

• white pepper

Chicken sauce:

Blended:

• 4-6 cloves garlic

• 3-4 large shallots

• 2-4 green onions, more for garnish

• 1 large tomato

• 5-10 bird’s eye chili

• 30mL oil

• salt

• white pepper

extra (optional)

• 3-5 lime leaves

• green peppers: serrano, jalapeño

• lemon/Thai basil

• more green onions

Step-by-Step

1. Boil your chicken until fully cooked and shred them

   • An easier option would be to cut the chicken into cubes and just sear & pan-fry them

2. Wash your rice, combine all ingredients, and normally cook them in the rice cooker/pot

3. Blend all the chicken sauce’s ingredients (for a fine paste, chop is fine too!)

4. Pan-fry the sauce until fragrant, add lime leaves and green peppers if you have

5. Add your shredded/cooked chicken, mix

6. Turn off the heat, add the basil and more green onions, mix

*Wrapping:

7. Cut the banana leaves into rectangles (2 pcs for 1 portion = 2x4 = 8) directly on fire to make them more flexible

8. Stack 2 banana leaves together and prepare 4 of them

   If you have smaller pieces, just stack them too for extra hold

8. Portion the cooked rice & chicken into 4, scoop them into the banana leaf

9. Wrap them using toothpicks (I am not a pro yet) here’s a good tutorial

10. Char the wrapped rice on a pan, both sides, until the banana leaf burns

11. Enjoy!! Eat with your hands or eat it like a burrito and you don’t need to wash plates or any cutleries after eating yay

*Skip the wrapping if you don’t have banana leaf.. but then again it’s just going to be a fragrant chicken + rice dish. It’s still good but you won’t get the authentic banana leaf aroma

Notes:

• Be careful when wrapping, I used 2 layers of leaves here so they wouldn’t tear easily

• If you’re not consuming the food right away, let the rice and chicken cool a bit before wrapping to avoid the steam getting trapped and condensed

• Always taste as you go, adjust everything to your palate! That’s how you learn how to cook ;)