''Nasi ulam'' is a traditional

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

dish of steamed

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domesticate ...

(''nasi'') served with various herbs and vegetables (''ulam'') The herbs being used especially the leaves of ''pegagan'' (''

Centella asiatica ''Centella asiatica'', commonly known as gotu kola, kodavan, Indian pennywort and Asiatic pennywort, is a herbaceous, perennial plant in the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and islan ...

'') or often replaced with ''kemangi'' (

lemon basil Lemon basil, hoary basil, Thai lemon basil, or Lao basil,Dorothy Culloty (''Ocimum'' × ''africanum'') is a hybrid between basil (''Ocimum basilicum'') and American basil (''Ocimum americanum''). The herb is grown primarily in northeastern Afri ...

), vegetables, spices and accompanied with various side dishes. This dish is a feature of Betawi and

Malay cuisine Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia (parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan), Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines (mostly southern) as well as ...

with many variations and is commonly found in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malay ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bo ...

and southern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. Nasi ulam is often served with ''

sambal Sambal is an Indonesian chilli sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of a variety of chilli peppers with secondary ingredients, such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. ''Sambal'' is an In ...

'' chilli paste.

History

Nasi ulam is a typical Betawi mixed rice. Nasi ulam is a cross of several culinary cultures that influence the variant of the nasi ulam and its side dishes. Some say that white rice topped with coconut serundeng (''ulam'') and peanuts is an Indian influence. In Indonesia, Nasi Ulam is not only found in Jakarta, but also in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent is ...

and

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and ...

. ''Ulam'' in

Betawi language Betawi, also known as Betawi Malay, Jakartan Malay, or Batavian Malay is the spoken language of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the native language of perhaps 5 million people; a precise number is difficult to determine due to the ...

is the name for

serundeng Serundeng refers to a side dish or condiment to accompany rice in Indonesian and Malay languages. Serundeng may taste sweet, or hot and spicy according to recipe variants. Its best known variant is an Indonesian preparation of sautéed grat ...

from grated coconut, which when stirred with hot white rice will bring out a savory and slightly spicy taste on the tongue. The history of Nasi Ulam actually comes from

Tangerang Tangerang ( Sundanese: , ) is a city in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Located on the western border of Jakarta, it is the third largest urban centre in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area after Jakarta and Bekasi; the sixth largest city p ...

banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java S ...

, although it comes from Tangerang, this dish is rarely known by the surrounding community and is more associated with cuisine from Jakarta, this is because in the past many Nasi Ulam traders from Tangerang traded Nasi ulam to the

Glodok Glodok () is an urban village of Taman Sari, West Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is also known as Pecinan or Chinatown since the Dutch colonial era, and is considered the biggest in Indonesia. Majority of the traders and residents of Glodok are Ch ...

, Jakarta, and there they introduced their cuisine to the local community, especially to

Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

. Not all Betawi people in Jakarta are familiar with all variations of Nasi Ulam, both wet (basah) and dry (kering). ''Wet'' ulam is only known among the Cina Benteng, Petak Sembilan, kawasan Pecinan, Tanjung Priok, Kemayoran, Matraman, dan Senen. Meanwhile, ''dried'' ulam is known in the Tebet, Kayumanis, and Mester Jatinegara areas. Betawi people usually eat rice ulam in the morning as one of the breakfast menus.

Variants

Indonesia

In Indonesia, ''nasi ulam'' can be found in Betawi (native Jakartans) cuisine as well as

and Sumatran Malay. In Jakarta there are two types of ''nasi ulam'', the wet (soupy) ''nasi ulam'' of northern and central Jakarta, and dry one of southern Jakarta. In Indonesia, nasi ulam usually spiced with ''kemangi'' herb, chili, sliced cucumber and sprinkled with peanuts granule and ''

'' (grated and sauteed coconut). An array of other additional dishes are often added on top of ''nasi ulam'', such as ''

dendeng Dendeng refers to thinly sliced dried meat in Indonesian cuisine. It is preserved through a mixture of sugar and spices and dried via a frying process. It is similar to jerky. The creation of dendeng is commonly credited to the Minangkabau people ...

'' (beef jerky), ''telur dadar'' (

omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives, ...

), '' perkedel'' (mashed potato fritter), fried

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super f ...

tempeh Tempeh or tempe (; jv, ꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦥꦺ, témpé, ) is a traditional Indonesian food made from fermented soybeans. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. A fungus, '' Rhizop ...

, and ''

krupuk ''Krupuk'' ( Javanese), ''kerupuk'' ( Indonesian), ''keropok'' ( Malay), ''kroepoek'' ( Dutch) or ''kropek'' (Tagalog) is a cracker made from starch or animal skin and other ingredients that serve as flavouring. Most krupuk are deep fried, ...

''. (Indonesian)

Malaysia

Nasi ulam in Malaysia consist of cold boiled rice that is mixed with shredded herbs such as ''daun kaduk'' (wild pepper leaf), ''pucuk gajus'' (cashew leaf shoots), onions etc. ''Kerisik'' and other spices are also added. Sometimes shredded fried fish is mixed in. This version is common in northwest Peninsular Malaysia. A type of nasi ulam in northeast Peninsular Malaysia, in which the rice is dyed blue, is called ''

nasi kerabu Nasi kerabu is a Malaysian cuisine rice dish, a type of '' nasi ulam'', in which blue-colored rice is eaten with dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and other salads. The blue color of the rice comes from the petals of ''Clitoria te ...

''.

References

{{Malaysian cuisine Indonesian rice dishes Betawi cuisine Malay cuisine Malaysian rice dishes

History

Variants

Indonesia

Malaysia

See also

References