DISH RESEARCH · Main dish
nasi bakar
Denny Boy Gunawan’s selected nasi bakar mixes steamed rice with fried Medan anchovies, aromatics and lemon basil, wraps the filling in banana leaves and grills the parcels in a pan.
About nasi bakar
Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.
Chef Denny Boy Gunawan’s nasi bakar, published by The Jakarta Post, fills banana-leaf parcels with seasoned rice and Medan anchovies before a short pan-grill. The chef highlights the banana leaf as part of the dish’s flavour and aroma.
The anchovies are fried in oil until yellow. Bay leaves, chopped shallots and garlic, optional bird’s-eye chillies, smashed galangal and chopped spring onion then cook in the same pan.
Already-steamed rice is stirred into the aromatic mixture with salt and pepper. Lemon basil leaves follow, then the galangal and bay leaves are removed from the rice.
Banana leaves are cut into four large squares, filled with the rice and folded into parcels. The filled leaves are grilled in a pan for a few minutes, warming and finishing the wrapped rice.
The parcels are served with crackers. This selected filling uses Medan anchovies; the published recipe also offers chicken, mushroom, prawn or beef as different filling options rather than combining them all in the same parcel.
Ingredients in nasi bakar
Recorded ingredient connections, rather than a complete recipe. Explore an ingredient for more detail.
Ingredient connections are still being added.
Ingredient connections awaiting review. Versions and preparation vary.
Origins & food traditions
Explore the countries and cooking traditions associated with this dish. These connections do not establish a single birthplace or limit where the dish is eaten today.
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Cuisines & regions
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