Nasi Liwet (Sundanese Aromatic Rice)
Nasi Liwet is an aromatic side dish featuring white rice cooked with herbs and spices. It is so flavorful and delicious eaten plain or with other dishes.
If you often cook plain white rice to complement your meals, this Nasi Liwet recipe is an easy upgrade. Nasi Liwet is a flavorful rice dish made by cooking rice with various aromatic herbs and spices. The rice is mixed with umami-packed fried anchovies and sometimes with stink beans for extra flavor, color, and texture. It is delicious eaten on its own but also great as a side dish with any meal.
What Is Nasi Liwet?
There are two versions of Nasi Liwet in Indonesia: Solo (Central Java) and Sundanese (West Java). They are very different in taste and presentation.
The Solo version uses coconut milk along with simple herbs and spices. Meanwhile, the Sundanese version is made without coconut milk, and cooked with more herbs and spices. Anchovies and stink beans are added. This makes the rice look more colorful.
This Nasi Liwet recipe is the Sundanese version. Toasting herbs and spices – shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, pandan leaves, bird’s eye chilis – along with stink beans before adding them to the rice awakens a range of flavors you wouldn’t get without blooming them first. Mix white rice, water, and season with salt, pepper, and chicken stock powder. Add the toasted herbs, spices, and stink beans to the rice and sprinkle with fried anchovies.
Nasi Liwet is traditionally a communal food, It is eaten together on long banana leaves with various dishes. This tradition is called “liwetan“. But no one can stop you when you want to eat it alone.
What Type of Rice to Use
It is best to use medium-grain or long-grain white rice. Other rice varieties like short grain rice would not work for this recipe. It would make the rice clumpy and almost gummy in texture.
Jasmine rice is a popular choice and works well with this recipe. Just be sure to adjust the water ratio and cooking time to match the directions on the package for the rice you are using.
Ingredients You Need
- White rice – Use medium-long grain white rice. Just be sure to adjust the water ratio and cooking time to match the directions on the package for the rice you are using.
- Water – To cook the rice.
- Anchovies – Anchovies add a nice salty umami flavor to the rice. Therefore, don’t skip this ingredient if possible. In Indonesia, we use tiny salted anchovies. Don’t use big anchovies because you will want the anchovies to be distributed to the rice. You can also use dried anchovies.
- Stink beans – This ingredient is optional. The stink beans are enjoyably nutty and offer this pungent smell you either love or hate.
- Shallots – Shallots used in Southeast Asian cuisine tend to be small with a red exterior and white interior. Unlike western shallots which tend to be larger, Indonesian shallots are small and sweeter in flavor. The individual cloves resemble garlic cloves with pointed tapered ends.
- Garlic – For aromatic flavor and aroma.
- Lemongrass – Gives a citrus-like aroma to the dish.
- Galangal – Galangal has a similar appearance to ginger but has a different aroma and color. It tastes spicy and peppery.
- Salam leaves – Salam leaves are often called Indonesian or Indian bay leaves. However, salam leaves are totally different from bay leaves as they are from an unrelated family of plants. They smell distinguishably different. Therefore, I suggest you skip salam leaves if you can’t get hold of it.
- Pandan leaves – To add aromatic aroma and flavor.
- Bird’s eye chilis – They are optional. The rice will not be spicy when you add them. It is only spicy when you bite the chilis only.
- Seasonings – Salt, chicken bouillon powder, and ground white pepper for taste.
- Vegetable oil – For deep-frying the anchovies and stir-frying the herbs and spices.
How to Make Nasi Liwet
- Fry the anchovies until golden brown and crispy.
- Stir fry shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, pandan leaves, bird’s eye chilis, and stink beans in a little bit of oil to enhance their flavor and aroma.
- Add rice and water to a rice cooker. Season with salt, chicken bouillon powder, and ground white pepper. Add the stir-fried herbs and spices. Sprinkle with half of the fried anchovies. Cook the rice in the rice cooker until the rice is cooked.
- Once the rice is cooked, mix the rice. Discard the lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, and pandan leaves.
How to Serve
This Nasi Liwet can be a delicious meal on its own. You can also serve it with these dishes:
- Ayam Goreng Ungkep (Indonesian Fried Chicken)
- Bakwan Jagung (Indonesian Corn Fritters)
- Simple Crispy Fried Tempeh
- Morning Glory Stir Fry
- Salted Squid With Green Chili Sambal
- Sambal Terasi Goreng (Fried Shrimp Paste Sambal)
How to Store Nasi Liwet
Transfer your cooked rice to a clean container and cool at room temperature with the lid off. You can also cool fried rice quickly in the fridge. After it has cooled completely, close the lid. You can keep the leftover rice for up to 4 days in the fridge or you can freeze it for about 3 months. When you’re ready to eat, just pop it in the microwave with a damp paper towel covering it in 30-second increments until it’s hot.
Nasi Liwet (Sundanese Aromatic Rice)
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups (350 gr) medium grain white rice
- 2 1/4 cups (550 ml) water
- 1.8 oz (50 gr) tiny dried anchovies, or more
- 8 shallots, thickly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
- 3 stalks lemongrass, use the lower white part only, bruised
- 1 inch (2.5 cm) galangal, bruised
- 5 salam leaves
- 3 pandan leaves, knotted, optional
- 8 bird's eye chilis, remove the stems, optional
- 2-3 pods stink beans, remove from the pods, halved, optional
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Deep fry anchovies until light brown and crispy.
- Stir fry herbs and spices – In a large frying pan, heat 2-3 tbsp oil on medium heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, pandan leaves, bird's eye chilis, and stink beans until fragrant and the shallots are wilted.
- Wash the rice until the water runs nearly clear.
- Cook the rice – Add rice grain and water to the inner pot of the rice cooker. Season the rice with salt, chicken bouillon powder, and ground white pepper. Stir until combined. Add the stir-fried herbs and spices and sprinkle half of the fried anchovies on top. Do not stir the rice this time so that the rice cooks evenly. Turn on the rice cooker and let it cook until the cycle has finished.
- Mix the rice – After the rice cooker shifts to the warm mode, wait 10 minutes before you open the lid and use the rice paddle to fluff and mix the rice. Discard lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, and pandan leaves.
- Serve – Sprinkle the remaining fried anchovies on top of rice. Serve the rice warm with other side dishes.
So delicious!