Aromatic Vegan Fried Rice

There is a special times

In a need to fulfilled your expectation

a congrats that not always be a grant wish

but simple something that cherish your heart

A morning after

shouldn't say a gloomy day if it's raining

pretended the sky is mourning

somehow provoked hope is coming there

like a congrat of living existency

so here we're a natural born

Having a good eyes, ears and attitudes

but what giving us the precious bless

is toward on what we ringing the sound of joy

like a simple grateful to each others

the sun, moon and shadow

the winter, sunny and fall

and when we arrive again on autumn season

living across the mountain sky

or enjoys diving in the deep seashore

a night before

a wedding marching band start the music

the groom and bride are kissing

and we're a general put the general wishes

in a roman of newborn generation

glass, plate and colorful spoon

in the table of white cloth and the flower arrangement

the silver fork and brunette napkin

shall we enjoys the party until it's over?

like we greet the count of comings festival

so, here we are in the between journey of the journey

mother earth, the landlord and empress of nature

a kind of those place we called a home

wherever you are, whatever we were

lived inside the spell and bruising to forever sense

~Nature, How We Bound @Heiki

Nasi goreng. Kalau ngomongin makanan populer satu ini nggak ada habisnya. Padahal menu ini simple sekali, berbahan cuma nasi, bumbu/saus dan tambahan irisan daging, telur atau sayuran sudah deh, jadi. Masaknya juga ngga pake ribet, siapkan dulu semua bahan terutama nasi yang dipakai biasanya sudah diinapkan semalam, masuk ke wajan, cemplang cemplung semua, siap deh dihidangkan dan dinikmati panas-panas enak, anget-anget juga oke. Apalagi untuk orang Indonesia banget yang kalo nggak makan atau 'ndemek' nasi belum merasa kenyang, menu ini bisa jadi andalan. Ini juga jadi menu favorit sarapan aku sekeluarga. Biasanya aku tambahin irisan telur dadar atau utuh per porsi, irisan tomat dan timun segar dan kriuknya bawang merah goreng hmm~~

Walaupun nasi goreng sering dianggap sebagai makanan tradisional Indonesia, sebenarnya lebih karena pemakaian bumbunya ya. Misalnya nasi goreng ikan asin, selain penggunaan ikan asin/teri yang rasanya sudah akrab di lidah kita, untuk memerahkan juga memakai sambal yang jadi ciri khas menu Indonesia. Sedangkan di negara lain, kita tahu juga ada menu nasi goreng dengan ciri khas negara masing-masing, seperti nasi goreng kimchi, namanya aja sudah jelas bahannya memakai kimchi. Atau nasi goreng Hongkong, dengan tambahan daging ayam dan sayuran, aroma bawang putihnya mengendus kuat, wajan wok yang lebar dan api besar, wah...maknyuss! Selain nasi goreng ikan asin, kita juga punya banyak variasi seperti nasi goreng pete, nasi goreng sambal terasi, nasi goreng kampung, nasi goreng Magelangan, atau nasi goreng rica-rica yang pedasnya bikin lidah kita kipas-kipas meleleh dan masih banyak variasinya. Dan yang mau aku buat pagi ini (hmm tanggal updatenya di akun instagram sih, jadi versi blognya ini nyusul) adalah nasi goreng vegan alias free meat alias nggak pake daging tapi tetap nikmat.

Pernah nggak suatu kali bangun pagi tiba-tiba ngerasa lapar dan kepingin makan sesuatu yang sesuai bayangan di pikiran kita? Entah kenapa kepinginnya nasi goreng, yang rasanya ringan, nggak berat tapi menonjol. Belum lagi kepingin cium harumyan rempah. Setelah utak-atik dikit dengan sedikit adaptasi dari Nasi Goreng Hongkong jadilah Aromatic Vegan Fried Rice ini. Untuk nasinya, supaya wangi aku pakai air melati (ini infused water juga, bisa dibuat dua-tiga hari sebelumnya lalu disimpan di kulkas), kalau mau lebih wangi bisa ditambahin selembar serai dan/atau daun jeruk nipis biar makin wangi. Nasinya sendiri nggak diinapkan, karena orang rumah yang juga ikut menikmati lebih doyan nasinya masih empuk menul-menuk, jadi pas masuk wajan juga masih lengket. Tipsnya, setelah nasi matang, dibiarkan dulu dan setelah dikeluarkan dibiarkan lagi sampai uapnya hilang, dan nasinya dijabarkan dengan gerakan kerat-kerat seperti mengerat ikan. Untuk bumbunya, irisan cincang: serai, kemangi daun jeruk, seledri, daun bawang, cabai merah buang biji, daun ketumbar, sawi putih dicincang sama rata, sawi hijau juga boleh (untuk menambah tekstur dan rasa biar ada pahit-pahitnya). Kenapa aku menambahkan sawi, selain untuk sayur/serat, sawi putih menambah rasa manis yang halus teksturnya, dan sawi hijau balance dengan rasa pahitnya). Bawang putih dan bawang merah cincang juga dipakai dengan ditumis lebih dulu. Untuk tambahannya, pipilan jagung manis dan edamame atau kacang kedelai Jepang rebus, dan orak-arik telur. Jadinya ramai? Bisa dibilang begitu, yang penting jumlah yang ditambahkan pas sehingga rasanya benar-benar balance. Kalau kebanyakan jagung atau kemangi juga nggak enak kan. Untuk basic sausnya aku pakai saus tiram, garam dan merica secukupnya (balance dengan bahan aromatic), aduk rata dan siap disajikan.

Have you ever woke up in the morning and feel you wants to eat something fits to your expectation? That's what happened to me, and it's a plate of fried rice in simple seasoning but strong in flavor, quite aromatic and I don't know, but on my expectation it must be a dish that could calm my morning. Speaking about, fried rice itself always become a simply dish but popular to anyone. A lots of type, from locals to then any countries had their own versions. Let me give example, here, we have 'Nasi Goreng Ikan Asin' with the main ingredients are Ikan Teri or salty Anchovy fish. What made it local? The taste of the salty fish in here was strong, unique, or independent and very familiar to Indonesian taste, beside how to coloring the rice, it's usually use Sambal, one of best Indonesian cuisine. And there's a lot of Sambal's variations we can get. Other name, Nasi Goreng Kampong (Fried Rice Kampong/Village Style), Nasi Goreng Magelangan (Magelangan Fried Rice) which is based the name of the city in Central Java, it's mixing with small amount of noodle, a variations anyhow). Nasi Goreng Hong Kong (or Yang Chow Fried Rice) was also very popular dish in Indonesia, since it's lot in menu list of Chinese food. People here got used to eat it on a street stall or big restaurants even on the wedding. 

Back to my morning request, so I adopted Yang Chow fried rice so just using Oyster sauce, salt and black pepper as the basic and to balance the strong and aromatic flavors there. To cook the rice, I use jasmine water, it's an infused water basically, that I loves to drink it. Only jasmine flower, 2 - 4 in a jar, clean rinse and let infused for two or three days. To know the water still good, check if the petal still on white dove color and not transparent which means it already losing the magic. Options, adding lime leaves or a sheet of lemongrass means more fragrances (this, I don't, I use the lime leaves to accompany eating fried Kampong chicken). Next part, the aromatic ingredients, a finely chopped of lime leaves, the white part of lemongrass, celery, cilantro, basil, leek / scallion (both part), red chili (without seed), and then Chinese cabbage (white part) and mustard (to add color and texture, the bitter taste is for balance). Boiled of sweet corn and edamame (Japanese soya bean) for extra texture, fried shallot. Oh, milky scrambled egg is an exception (for vegan, I mean) but it really good at all. Just put the scrambled egg cover the rice, so the aroma would keep inside, then sprinkle fried shallot on really top so it slowly to soft but added the crunchiness. How's that? I'm happy I made a morning wish!

The point is to get strong scent but light in flavors, since that's what I hope for morning calm. Like talking to a calm partner in the same table, not much talking but his/her presence really vibe to enjoy the morning. And that's how I got the idea of aromatic, mostly from the lemongrass, when every bites really vibe about it. The other aromatic ingredients are such like a cozy conversation added in the morning. The feeling of biting the sweet corn, the spicy split of chili and black pepper, bitter of green veggies, and enjoys the excitement laugh of cilantro, celery and basil. Even when you sit alone, you just like have a fun conversation, even for one morning day.

Aromatic Vegan Fried Rice (2 portions) for Rice : infused jasmine water stay overnight / fresh cooked - chilled outside for 2-3 hours Ingredients - finely chopped (f.c) : 3 garlic 1 asian shallot 1 stalk of lemongrass - use the edible white part *it's important to get the fresh and young one. Get yummy or get choked 1 lime leaves - no stalk 2 tbsp f.c celery 1 tsp f.c cilantro 1 tbsp f.c basil 1 leek / 2 - 3 scallion - use both part 1 red chili - depending the spicy level you wants, seeded 1 leaves of Chinese cabbage - body only 1 leaves of mustard, sliced (or another green veggies you like) 50 gram sweet corn, soft boiled 30 gram edamame, soft boiled (you can skip, or another bean you like) 1 egg, scrambled with 1 -2 tbsp of milk 1 tsp fried shallot and fried garlic, to garnish 1 - 2 tbsp oyster sauce oil salt, black pepper stock powder (no MSG), if desired HOW TO - heat the frying pan, add oil, saute garlic and shallot until fragrance but not ready yet colored - add other aromatic ingredients except leaves, quick sauteed to keep it fresh and not fried - add cooked rice, then leaves, stir well - seasoned with oyseter sauce, salt, black pepper, stir well again. Done - In the plate, covered with scramble egg and sprinkle fried shallot on top. Warm served.