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Make this easy and aromatic Betawi-style nasi uduk that goes with many main and side dishes. I’m sharing how you can make it easily with a rice cooker but it can be cooked on the stove and Instant Pot too.
My kids get very excited whenever I make coconut rice. They LOVE anything coconut (my mission is accomplished!). In Medan where I grew up, we call coconut rice as nasi lemak, like how they call it in Singapore and Malaysia. Nasi Uduk is more of Jakarta-style coconut rice cooked in spices and herbs.
MY FAVORITE WAY OF COOKING NASI UDUK
My favorite way of cooking nasi uduk is with a rice cooker or Instant Pot. It’s a no brainer because I just need to put everything in there without having to attend to it. Before I own an Instant Pot pressure cooker, a rice cooker is my go-to for cooking rice, still is actually 🙂
You can still make nasi uduk on the stove and it’s not hard and tedious (I guess I’m spoiled by rice cooker and Instant Pot!). It just requires a bit more attending, not much, just a bit 😉
MY BASIC NASI UDUK
Honestly, they go with anything if you ask me. This is just to show you what a basic nasi uduk I prepared:
Egg omelette strips
Pan-fried peanuts and anchovies
Slices of cucumber
Sambal nasi lemak
Mie Goreng Jawa. It’s not unusual to have “double” carbs in one dish 🙂
HOW TO MAKE PREPARE BASIC NASI UDUK
1. PREPARE AND COOK THE RICE
Place all the ingredients in the inner pot of the rice cooker. Stir to mix. Close the lid and use the white rice setting or whichever setting you usually use to cook white rice.
Wait 10 minutes before opening to fluff the rice. Remove all the herbs and spices and fluff the rice with a rice paddle
2. MAKE EGG OMELETTE STRIPS
Beat the eggs with a fork with seasonings
Preheat non-stick pan. When it’s hot enough, add cooking oil. Pour the egg mixture onto the middle of the pan and swirl to cover the base of the pan. Let it cook for about 10 seconds. Use a spatula to push the edge and let the runny eggs flow to cover the base of the pan. When the bottom has set, flip over and cook until the other side is set. Remove from the pan.
3. Pan fry peanuts and dried anchovies
Preheat a medium-size pan with 1 tsp cooking oil. Add anchovies and pan fry until crispy.
In the same pan, add another 1 tsp of oil. Add the peanuts and cook until the peanuts are lightly brown. Turn off the heat and give it a good stir to mix everything. Remove from the heat
Serve warm with any main or side dishes of your choice. In this photo below, you see ayam ungkep, kering tempeh kacang, sambal lemak, and few slices of cucumber.
NOTES ON MEASUREMENT
I usually like to use weight (grams, lbs, etc) for ingredients, but when it comes to cooking rice, I usually use cups, simply because it’s easier. I usually use the cup that comes with the rice cooker, which is smaller compare to U.S. Standard measuring cup. You can use whatever cups you like, just make sure you use the same cup to measure the rice and the liquid.
OTHER SERVING SUGGESTIONS WITH NASI UDUK
If you want to make a more complete nasi uduk, you can consider the followings main and side dishes:
Ayam Ungkep
Ayam Goreng Kremes (Indonesian Fried Chicken with Crunchy Bits)
Ayam Goreng Kalasan
Kering Tempeh Kacang
Sambal Telur
Perkedel
Pindang Telur
HOW TO KEEP AND REHEAT LEFTOVER
Simply keep them in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Please note that the longer you keep, the drier they get. Simply splash them with a bit of water and use your rice cooker “warm” function to reheat or use a steamer to steam until they are heated through. You can also use a microwave to heat it until it’s heated through.
DID YOU MAKE THIS EASY NASI UDUK RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Easy Nasi Uduk Betawi (Coconut Rice)
Ingredients
- 3 cups Jasmine Rice or long-grain white rice. See notes on cups measurement
- 3 cups water add another 1/2 cup if cooking on the stove, see notes
- ½ cup coconut cream (thick coconut milk), see notes
Aromatics:
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- 1 inch galangal thinly sliced, or use 1 Tbsp galangal powder
- 4 bay leaves
- 2 pandan leaves knotted
Seasonings:
- 1 tsp salt
Egg omelette strips:
- 4 large eggs beaten
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
Pan-fried peanuts and anchovies:
- 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
- 1 cup dried anchovies
- 2 tsp cooking oil divided
Instructions
Wash the rice:
- Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water runs pretty clear. Drain off all water completely
If cooking on the stove:
- Place all the ingredients in a heavy-bottom pot, except for the rice and let it cook over medium heat until liquid comes to a gentle simmer. Add the rice and stir to mix. Cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low and let it cook for about 5 minutes and stir again to prevent coconut milk catching at the bottom of the pot. Cover the lid back up again and let it cook for another 5 minutes then turn off the heat, but do not open the lid yet, let it sit for 10 minutes before opening. Remove all the herbs and spices and fluff the rice with a rice paddle
If cooking with rice cooker:
- Place all the ingredients in the inner pot of the rice cooker. Stir to mix. Close the lid and use the white rice setting or whichever setting you usually use to cook white rice. Wait 10 minutes before opening to fluff the rice. Remove all the herbs and spices and fluff the rice with a rice paddle
If cooking with Instant Pot:
- Place all ingredients in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Give it a stir and make sure the rice is covered by the liquid. Cover the lid. Turn the pressure release valve to "sealing" and press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on high pressure. Set the timer to 5 minutes. When it's done cooking, wait 10 minutes before opening the lid to let residual heat continues cooking the rice and the rice can absorb all the liquid. If you open it sooner, the rice might still be wet
- After 10 minutes, unlock the lid. You may still see that the top of the rice is slightly uncooked and the bottom is slightly wetter than the top, but don't worry, use a rice paddle to fluff the rice to mix everything in. Close the lid back and another 10 minutes, the residual heat will soften the rice and everything will be evenly cooked
Make the egg omelette strips:
- Beat the eggs with a fork with seasonings
- Preheat non-stick pan. When it's hot enough, add cooking oil. Pour the egg mixture onto the middle of the pan and swirl to cover the base of the pan. Let it cook for about 10 seconds. Use a spatula to push the edge and let the runny eggs flow to cover the base of the pan. When the bottom has set, flip over and cook until the other side is set. Remove from the pan
- Roll it up and cut into strips
Prepare pan-fried peanuts and anchovies:
- Preheat a medium-size pan with 1 tsp cooking oil. Add anchovies and pan fry until crispy. In the same pan, add another 1 tsp of oil. Add the peanuts and cook until the peanuts are lightly brown. Turn off the heat and give it a good stir to mix everything. Remove from the heat
Serving:
- Serve the warm rice with the omelette strips, few slices of cucumber, pan-fried peanuts and anchovies, mie goreng, and sambal
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
Marv's Recipe Notes
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE THESE EASY AROMATIC RICE RECIPES:
Singapore/Malaysia Easy Nasi Lemak
Rice Cooker or Instant Pot Nasi Gurih
Nasi Pandan
13 comments
Hi Marvelinna, first thanks for your receipe list.
Can i use a coconut milk instead of coconut creme? What is the ratio of water and coconut milk for 3 cups of Rice? Thank you in advance. Kind regards, Fenny
Hi Fenny, you can use 1 cup of coconut milk + 2 1/2 cups of water for 3 cups of rice. I hope this helps 🙂
Hi Marvellina,
Sorry for my late reply, yes it worked.
Thank you 😀
For the water and coconut cream – is the measurement also using the rice cup or regular US cup? Thanks!
Hi Magda, whatever cup you end up using for the rice, use that same cup to measure the water and the coconut cream. I hope it makes sense.
hi Marvellina, it’s me again. Loving all the indon recipes on your site!! I tried this nasi uduk in my instant pot and it did cook beautifully & the smell is amazing but i feel that the coconut-y &savoury taste is not there – it tastes like normal rice with nasi uduk aroma. I also realise that by the end, i didnt have any leftover water like yours. What do you suggest I do? Thanks again for the amazing recipe list
Hi Aurora, thank you for trying 🙂 What kind of coconut milk you use ? and did you by any chance add salt when cooking the rice? If you don’t have any extra liquid after cooking the rice, it sounds like your rice must have been perfectly cooked and absorbed all the liquid ? Were they soft and fluffy rice ?
Hi hi, i used this uht coconut cream (link below). I thought i did add salt lol. Yes the rice was soft n fluffy. It was perfect in texture n aroma except it tasted like normal rice n not nasi uduk🤣
I’m trying again this weekend, that’s why wanted to get your thoughts on what you think i should improve on. Let me make sure i add enough salt n I’m thinking of maybe adding more coconut cream.
Ayam Brand Coconut Cream, 1000ml https://www.amazon.sg/dp/B07FJDR2VP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Q11EAQQS7VVGGXCJ205Z
Hi Aurora, I’ve never used Ayam Brand before, but should be okay I think. I usually just use Thai brand like Chaokoh or Mae ploy. I have 1 tsp of salt in the recipe, but please feel free to add more if you don’t think it’s salty enough 🙂
Hi Marvellina, I managed to make the nasi uduk again – this time i used 2 tsp of salt & a bit more coconut cream and it worked! It definitely tastes savoury – no longer like plain rice! Thanks for sharing the recipe, i made it for my friends & they loved it!
That’s great to know 🙂 Thank you for letting me know!
We made this last week (without pandan or galangal) and my kids loved it so much we’ve had it twice more since then! The first time it turned out perfectly in the Instant Pot, but then we got a little bit lax on the times and it came out very sticky. So for anyone trying this recipe, be super-careful and follow the directions as exactly as possible. Going to try an Asian supermarket today to see if we’ll have any luck finding pandan and galangal, as I am sure that would make it even better!
Hi Elizabeth, I know pandan and galangal may not be easy to find, but most Asian supermarket will have them (I hope!). The pandan leaves usually sold in frozen package (unless in the Summer they might have fresh ones). Galangal should be available in fresh or frozen. To the least, they’ll have galangal powder at least! The pandan leaves and galangal do contribute nice aroma to the rice 🙂