Nasi liwet is an Indonesian dish rice dish cooked in coconut milk,

chicken broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

and

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s, from

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

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 Gui ...

. Common

steamed rice Cooked rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used. Any variant of Asian rice (both Indica and Japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutinous ...

is usually cooked in water, but nasi liwet is rice cooked in coconut milk, chicken broth, salam leaves and

lemongrass ''Cymbopogon'', also known as lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, Cochin grass, Malabar grass, oily heads, citronella grass or fever grass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some ...

, thus giving the rice a rich, aromatic and succulent taste. Nasi liwet is a traditional Javanese way of cooking rice in coconut milk. There is one variant of liwet rice, the style of Nasi Liwet Sunda from

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

with its unique Sundanese cuisine a different taste and presentation from Sundanese eating tradition called ''ngeliwet'' or ''botram'' (a dish made with banana leaves and eaten together).

Serving

Nasi liwet is topped with a slice of

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 ...

, shredded chicken that had also been cooked in coconut milk and a spoonful of a thick aromatic coconut cream called ''kumut''. Served alongside nasi liwet is '' opor ayam'' (a delicate chicken in a mild white coconut milk based sauce scented with galangal and lime leaves), ''

telur pindang Telur pindang or pindang eggs are hard boiled eggs cooked in the '' pindang'' process, originating from Javanese cuisine, Indonesia, and popular in Malay as well as Palembang cuisine. The eggs are boiled slowly in water mixed with salt, soy s ...

'' (eggs boiled slowly with spices),

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, '' Rhizo ...

and ''labu siam'' ( chayote) as the vegetable. Traditionally, the pan used for cooking was made of clay. The taste and aroma is generally better if it is cooked on a wood fire, but different regions have different ways of preparing it. Traditionally, it is served on a banana leaf or

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

leaf. Frequently, people prefer teak leaves to plates, because of the natural fragrance of the leaf. Nasi liwet complements (side dishes) always consist of coconut milk.

Popularity and variants

, nasi liwet is usually eaten for

breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or " ...

, but also a popular choice for

lunch Lunch is a meal eaten around the middle of the day. It is commonly the second meal of the day, after breakfast, and varies in size by culture and region. Etymology According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the etymology ...

supper Supper was originally a secondary lighter evening meal. The main meal of the day, called dinner, used to be served closer to what is known as lunchtime, around the middle of the day, but crept later over the centuries, mostly over the course of ...

. In Keprabon subdistrict, Surakarta, nasi liwet is only served for supper at the nighttime. Similar rice-coconut milk dishes can be found in other parts of

, such as ''

nasi uduk ''Nasi uduk'' (Indonesian: "''nasi'' ''uduk''") is an Indonesian style steamed rice cooked in coconut milk dish, especially popular in Betawi cuisine. Etymology According to the book "Kuliner Betawi Selaksa Rasa & Cerita" (2016) composed by ...

'' from

Betawi cuisine Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, an ...

, ''

nasi gurih Nasi gurih is an Indonesian steamed rice cooked in coconut milk and spices dish originally from Aceh, Indonesia. Etymology ''Nasi gurih'' literally means "succulent rice" in Aceh language and Indonesian. The name describes the rich taste o ...

'' from

Acehnese cuisine Acehnese cuisine is the cuisine of the Acehnese people of Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia. This cuisine is popular and widely known in Indonesia. Arab, Persian, and Indian traders influenced food in Aceh although flavours have substantially change ...

, and ''

nasi lemak ''Nasi lemak'' is a dish originating in Malay cuisine that consists of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. It is commonly found in Malaysia, where it is considered the national dish. It is also the native dish in neighbou ...

'' from Malay cuisine.

References

{{Indonesian cuisine Javanese cuisine Indonesian rice dishes Foods containing coconut

Serving

Popularity and variants

See also

References