Nasi kuning – Indonesian turmeric rice with spicy green beans

Name: Nasi kuning – Indonesian turmeric rice with spicy green beans
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 400g of long grain rice; 1 stick of lemongrass (1), bashed; 250ml of coconut milk; 250ml of water; 2 tsp ground turmeric; 1/2 tsp salt; 400g of green beans, ideally fine green beans; 6 garlic cloves; 2 bird's eye chillies, or 4 depending on spice tolerance; 1 tbsp of shrimp paste, ideally fermented; 2 tbsp of groundnut oil; 1 handful of prawn crackers; 1 handful of peanuts, roasted (skin-on); 1 handful of coriander, chopped

by Shu Han Lee

Item 1 of 1

Main
easy
4
20 minutes

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Nasi kuning is a delicious fragrant rice dish from Indonesia. Basmati rice is cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with lemongrass and turmeric, giving it a gorgeous golden yellow colour. In this recipe, Shu serves it with a quick and spicy green bean stir-fry .

First published in 2020

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Nasi kuning is rice that’s cooked with coconut milk and turmeric. The wonderful flavours of those ingredients infuse each grain, and the turmeric also turns the rice a beautiful yellow colour. Unsurprisingly, this auspicious ‘golden’ rice is popular on Southeast Asian tables during family reunions, birthdays, weddings… celebrations of all sorts really. The fragrant yellow rice is often accompanied with an assortment of spicy dishes, from curries to sambal-spiked shrimp. Here I’ve opted for a quick stir-fry of green beans with chilli and shrimp paste. Served with roast peanuts and prawn crackers, the dish packs a punch yet comes together in no time at all.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Nasi kuning (turmeric rice)

400g of long grain rice
1 stick of lemongrass (1), bashed
250ml of coconut milk
250ml of water
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp salt

Stir-fried green beans with chilli shrimp paste

400g of green beans, ideally fine green beans
6 garlic cloves
2 bird's eye chillies, or 4 depending on spice tolerance
1 tbsp of shrimp paste, ideally fermented
2 tbsp of groundnut oil

To serve

1 handful of prawn crackers
1 handful of peanuts, roasted (skin-on)
1 handful of coriander, chopped

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Method

Rinse the rice well until the water runs relatively clear

If using a rice cooker, put all the ingredients for the rice in a rice cooker and let it do its magic. If cooking on the hob, bring the rice and all ingredients to a boil in a saucepan, then cover and turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Let the rice cook, undisturbed, for about 10–15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Turn the heat off, give the rice a stir, and put the lid back on, letting it finish cooking by steaming in the pan’s residual heat for another 5 minutes

Meanwhile, trim the green beans and halve into finger-length pieces. Finely chop the garlic and chillies (keeping them separate from each other)

Heat a wok over a high heat until smoking hot, then add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic and fermented shrimp paste and stir-fry until fragrant, which will only take a few seconds

Push the garlic to the side of the wok, add the green beans and stir-fry for about 3–5 minutes, until they turn bright green but are still crisp. Add the chillies and give everything a final toss together

Serve hot immediately with the turmeric rice, prawn crackers and roast peanuts

First published in 2020

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Shu Han Lee

Shu grew up in Singapore and continues her nation's obsession with food in London, where she writes about food that's seasonal, British, yet Singaporean at the same time.

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