Thick fluffy dadar telur Padang with grated coconut (or not) and other vegetables is one popular Indonesian egg dishes originated in Padang, West Sumatra.
You know they say that you can’t visit Indonesia without trying Nasi Padang (jot it down now please if you haven’t already!). What the heck is nasi Padang. Nasi is rice. Padang is one of the cities in West Sumatra and Nasi Padang is one of the popular food there. It is basically a plate of rice served with many side dishes and entrees. Almost just like how Nasi Lemak and Nasi Sayur are served if I may put it that way.
But..what I find intriguing about Nasi Padang is, especially if you go and dine there at the shop, they will bring out pretty much ALL the dishes they have dished out in individual plates of course, from entrees to side dishes (probably about 10-15 dishes), to your table without you having to order anything. You pretty much ONLY EAT WHAT YOU WANT! and ideally, DO NOT touch the ones that you do not intend to eat. I know some of you may start making faces now! They will take back the ones you don’t eat and of course, they assume that you do not touch them or “temper” with them in any way because those will be served to the next customers again!
Eggs and grated coconut in mixing bowl
Major food hygiene violation you would say? Yes if you are here in the U.S. or majority of other developed countries. But such thing does not exist in Indonesia. You get the picture? Okay, my point is not to disgust you, but that’s how Nasi Padang is served if you dine in. My father-in-law told me he would never dine in because he didn’t like the idea of how the system worked LOL! What if someone has touched the fried chicken and changes his mind and put it back? 🙂
Anyway, dadar telur padang is one of my favorite dishes when I eat Nasi Padang. Did I dine in at the Padang restaurants? Yes I did and it’s my favorites. Our family loves Padang food! Perhaps as a kid, I didn’t think much about hygiene issue, if at all! Would I still eat Nasi Padang? You bet I would! ha..ha..!
I love the thickness of dadar telur Padang. It’s like eating an egg cake! This dadar telur Padang has grated coconut added to it. Some people opt out on the grated coconut, but I’m a coconut freak and so I like them in my omelette.
The omelette can be made spicy or not. I only put slices of red chili in there, some like to add sambal oelek in the omelette too. I didn’t make it that way so my kids could eat them too. The omelette is savory, aromatic with the coconut in there and it’s just perfect to go with a bowl of rice or if you fancy it as a brunch…hey..go for it!
Dadar telur Padang (Indonesian thick omelette)
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- Small pinch of salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 medium onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 large tomato seeded and diced
- 1 stalk green onion thinly sliced
- 3 Kaffir lime leaves removed bones and finely chopped
- Small bunch of fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped
- 4 red chili seeded and thinly sliced
- 150 gr unsweetened grated coconut
- 1 Tbsp milk or water
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
Instructions
- Crack 6 eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add salt and baking powder. Use a whisk to beat the eggs until it's fluffy and light, beat it extra longer than you normally would. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, except for cooking oil. Stir to mix everything
- Preheat your 10-inch non-stick pan, preferably the one with a lid, with cooking oil. Swirl the pan around to make sure the oil is coating the sides of the pan too. Pour the omelette batter into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to push one side of the omelette to the middle while tilting the pan to allow the egg mixture to cover the pan, repeat with few more sides like that so that. Lower the heat to medium. Cook for about 3 minutes
- The bottom should be nicely golden brown. Once you see that, cover the pan to let it steam cook the top side without having to flip the omelette over (trust me it's not an easy job with a thick-o-omelette like this). If you don't have a lid, you can use an aluminum foil to cover. Let it cook for another 4 minutes. The middle of the omelette should be firm, if not, then you need to cover it back and cook a bit longer. Use a spatula to gently release the omelette from the side of the pan and get your serving platter ready and gently slide or flip the omelette onto the plate with the help of you spatula. Flipping it onto the plate will let you show off the nice golden color of the other side
- Cut the omelette into triangle slices like cakes. Serve immediately or at room temperature. Perfect as part of multi-course meal with a rice
Notes
You might like other Indonesian food or other recipes using eggs
10 comments
i did it! 🙂 thanks for introducing
Frank
IG:gentlemans_cooking
Yay!! I’m glad you did it 🙂
i love cai png of any kind but i havent been to padang. i was researching and its interesting that yours doesnt use flour and doesnt requires to flip the egg! 🙂
Frank
IG:gentlemans_cooking
Always a favorite everytime I went to padang restaurant. Now that I’m savvy (and paranoid) enough about viruses, it really was a gamble everytime we ate out padang style lmao. My mom is from padang and if I remember correctly she would chop up kaffir lime leaves and dump it to the egg. It’s what gives it the characteristic zest n freshness.
Great idea with the kaffir lime leaves. Love the aroma of it!
Another fantastic dish! Made it this morning and it’s definitely a keeper. The coconut adds a delectable texture 🙂
Nasi Padang…makes sense to me to take back the dishes that weren’t touched! Let’s not forget that it’s a privilege we have to think otherwise.
Hi Ronny, I’m glad you like it 🙂 With the covid things going on now, they probably don’t do it the way they used to anymore though, offering all the dishes on the table 🙂
I can’t remember if I ever dined in any Padang restaurant when growing up..but I probably did as I faintly remember the way they served the dishes. I didn’t know that they would take back the dishes you didn’t touch and those dishes would be served again to another customers.
Anyway now I know that, I would NOT dine in any Padang restaurant. haha.
Btw are your in-laws white Americans or Asians?
I’m not sure about now though Jos, back in those days, my parents told me those foods would be served again, otherwise, they would be wasting lots of foods that were “unpaid”. My in-laws are Indonesians too 🙂
I love Nasi Padang! There’s always so many different dishes that I can choose from, the fried chicken and spicy dishes are usually my favourites. I love coconut, but I’ve never thought of adding it into omelettes, this is such a brilliant and delicious idea!