Nasai Noms

Sorry my beauties, for my lack of dedication to blogging over the past while; life has become hectic and some of my favourite things have gone by the wayside: reading, exercise, and blogging. I did, however, manage to cook some seriously tasty grub. I am a huge fan of nasai goreng, but always assumed that since it is so delicious it must be really difficult to make. Also I suspect my subconscious mind must have been ticking away telling me that I shouldn't learn to make it or else I will never be able to justify getting it as a take away or eating out again. And how true that is, because now I know what a cinch it is I couldn't possibly justify eating it any way other than home made. It's total comfort food treat-y-ness and one to crack out when you need to give yourself a little foodhug.

This is all down to Ravinder. I had stepped away from Ravinder for a while - I somehow feel guilty when I spend a disproportionate amount of time on one cookbook. Yes, I was the kind of child who wanted all of her teddies to sleep in her bed because she thought it was mean that they didn't have their own. Sigh.

The paste is a pretty simple blitzy-blender job. Only thing was I couldn't track down shrimp paste (actually just did not have time to go far beyond my own neighbourhood), so I am looking forward to this tasting even more delicious when I manage to get my hands on it. I made do with the rest of the ingredients: Anchovies, an onion, four cloves of garlic and two chillies.

On to the pan with the paste and it sizzles up nicely until it turns a deep deep red - about 6 to 8 minutes.

Prawns are always my pals in times of hunger-that-needs-a-speedy-solution. They are an ideal freezer staple in times of, em, no time. Plus they are super low fat, so they made up for the fact that I didn't get out training as much as I usually do, and also accidentally over-rewarded myself with chocolate just a little bit.

The crunchy bright green French beans provide nutrients amid the protein and spice. 

Whisk up an egg...

...and let it nestle in nicely alongside the rest of the glorious mess while it cooks up. The rice has been stirred into the paste-y prawns and beans at this stage, and if the rice has been made in advance this is a super speedy dish. Once the egg has set a little it all gets well smooshed together. The drooling will have likely commenced at this stage...

...so it's a major speedy choppity chop with some spring onions and a lime...

...to add that last bit of zip and crunch, until it gets its crowning glory: a fried egg with a yolk ready to burst with glorious orange joy and up the squidge factor by about ten million notches.