Friday already …

… and Friday night is fish night. Here's my “fish” version of an Indonesian favourite – Nasi Goreng.

There are two main types of Goreng – Nasi Goreng which is fried rice and Mie Goreng which is fried noodles. There are lots of variations of both dishes but they have basics in common. They began life as a breakfast dish using up leftovers and evolved into a popular street food choice, right up to being served in posh restaurants. They can be spicy or not depending on your taste and vegetarian or not and you'll find many recipes out there.

I made my first Nasi Goreng in 1987 and still make it – with my own variations along the way, like the following :

Nasi - but not as we know it

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or garlic paste

half tsp chilli powder

*225g cooked rice

*175g cooked salmon fillet, flaked

*175g smoked salmon, finely sliced

*175g peeled prawns, defrosted if frozen

2 tbsp Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)

1 tsp soft light brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

4-6 hard boiled eggs, quartered

black pepper

Serves 4-6

Add the vegetable oil to a wok and heat gently. Add the onions, garlic and chilli powder and fry until lightly browned. Add the rice and cook for a few seconds then stir in the salmon and prawns.

Mix the soy sauce, sugar and lemon juice together, stir into the rice mixture, then season to taste with pepper.

Add the eggs, folding in gently, serve immediately, straight from the wok.

You can adjust the amounts of fish/seafood to your own personal taste – bearing in mind that you have two elements to replace from the original recipe – chicken and ham – 175g each plus 175g of prawns. You are adding hard boiled eggs - these are not a garnish but an integral part of the dish since the sauce is quite punchy and the fish quite salty so they play an important part in the balance.

Make it your own – adjust to suit yourself, if you want more prawns then adjust the amount of salmon accordingly. You can still get great deals on on cooked salmon fillets or flakes and smoked salmon too, so keep your eyes open!

Oops, nearly forgot – any leftovers box and fridge.