Indonesian Yellow Rice (Nasi Kuning)

When I was about 10 years old I spent most of my morn­ing through mid­day time with my aunt in coun­try side. She’s very good at mak­ing fes­tive rice along with its com­ple­ment Potato Frit­ter (perkedel ken­tang), crispy tem­peh, and some gar­nishes like cel­ery and sliced tomato.

In Indone­sian tra­di­tion usu­ally we enjoyed it dur­ing fes­ti­val or in hol­i­day such as Ramad­han. But of course you can enjoy it every­time you like.

Here is the recipe:

4 tbsp. canola oil
2 cloves gar­lic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped fine
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 lb. uncooked Thai fra­grant rice
3 c. water
1 14-oz. can reduced-fat coconut milk
2 stalks lemon­grass
1 tsp. salt
1 red chili pep­per, seeded and chopped
1 medium cucum­ber, peeled and sliced thickly
1 tomato, cut into wedges deep-fried shal­lots
10 fried shrimp crackers

Direc­tion

• In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add gar­lic, onions, and turmeric and stir-fry for 3 min­utes, until onions are soft but not brown.
• Add rice and stir to coat.
• Add water, coconut milk, lemon­grass, and salt. Bring mix­ture to a boil, stir­ring frequently.
• Cover, reduce heat, and sim­mer for about 20 min­utes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid.
• Remove from heat and cover pan with a dish towel. Set aside for 15 minutes.
• Remove lemon­grass stalks. Mound the rice on a serv­ing plat­ter. Gar­nish with chili pep­per, cucum­ber, tomato, fried shal­lots, and shrimp crackers.