Pass a banana leaf over a flame and its sharp green smell softens almost at once. The stiff leaf goes supple, and with a thin film of oil it becomes pliable enough to wrap rice in the palm of your hand. On it goes coconut-milk rice and sweet-savory stir-fried chicken; the leaf is folded shut and the parcel is grilled. The moment it hits the pan, the edges of the leaf scorch a little and release an aroma that is neither rice nor meat.
Nasi bakar means "grilled rice" in Indonesian: rice wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on the grill. Street stalls and small eateries fill it with chicken, fish, tuna, mushrooms or tempeh, then reheat the whole parcel, leaf and all, over charcoal or on a griddle. Compared with look-alike parcels such as arem-arem (in Japanese) or lemper (in Japanese), it is closer to a seasoned rice meal, and the smell of the charred leaf is the star.
This recipe uses easy-to-find chicken breast, rice and coconut milk, with galangal, lemongrass, kecap manis and sambal for the Indonesian flavor. It also covers how to wrap without banana leaves, how to warm the leaves so they don't tear, how to get a good char, and how to reheat make-ahead parcels without the rice turning hard.
What is nasi bakar?
Nasi bakar is an Indonesian dish of cooked or fragrant rice wrapped in banana leaves with a filling and finished on the grill. As the name Nasi bakar says, nasi is rice and bakar means grilled. Indonesian cooking has many ways of wrapping rice in leaves; Sundanese nasi timbel, for example, is all about rice scented by the leaf it is wrapped in.
That said, nasi bakar is better understood not as an old ceremonial dish but as a fairly modern rice dish that grew out of what works well in homes, eateries and street stalls. Unlike nasi goreng (in Japanese), where cold rice is stir-fried, nasi bakar protects the moisture in the rice by wrapping it, then adds the leaf's aroma with a final grilling. At markets and eateries the parcels can be made in advance and reheated on a griddle or over charcoal as orders come in. That makes it good for a packed lunch, a light evening meal, or a make-ahead dinner on days when you don't know how many people will be eating.
At home, the three sticking points are the banana leaves, the texture of the rice and the aromatics. Frozen leaves work, but they crack if you fold them cold. Short-grain rice alone can clump too much, while long-grain rice alone can be hard to wrap. This recipe uses ordinary short-grain rice cooked with slightly less liquid, and drains the filling of any juices before wrapping. The local herb kemangi (lemon basil) is hard to find in many places, so a mix of shiso and basil stands in, covering its sweet scent and its green notes separately.
Origins and regional variation
Rather than tying nasi bakar to a single ancient festival or court cuisine, it makes more sense to see it as an extension of the everyday technique of wrapping rice in leaves. Banana-leaf parcels are easy to carry, keep the rice from drying out and lock in the aroma until just before eating. Add the "regrilling" step that suits eateries and street stalls, and you can serve a hot meal as soon as an order comes in. It works the same way at home: wrap in the morning, then just grill the parcels in a skillet at lunchtime.
The regional differences show up in the filling and the seasoning more than in the rice. Some versions pair chicken with kemangi, some use spicy stir-fried tuna or small fish, some lean heavily on sweet kecap manis, and some serve the sambal on the side so the heat can be added later. The smell of the grilled leaf is common to all of them, but the filling follows the local fish, chicken, tempeh and herbs. Outside Indonesia, rather than trying to gather every local ingredient, keep the framework of leaf aroma, dry filling and slightly firm rice; that is what makes it taste like nasi bakar.
Ingredients
Makes 4 parcels. For a light lunch, allow one per person; for a heartier meal, add a soup or grilled chicken.
This recipe contains chicken and soy-based seasonings. Store-bought sambal and kecap manis may be made in facilities that also handle shrimp, wheat or nuts. Don't overload the filling with chile; keeping it on the side to add at the table makes the dish easier to share with the whole family.
Ingredients to look for first
The rice and chicken are available at any supermarket. The ingredients worth seeking out, at an Asian grocery or online, are the ones that define the dish's aroma: coconut milk, galangal, kecap manis and sambal. You can make it without all of them, but coconut milk and kecap manis are what move it from plain chicken rice toward Indonesian flavor.
Use canned coconut milk for cooking, not the drinking kind. The rice absorbs it, and a thin product won't leave any aroma behind.
Galangal is harder than ginger, with a scent somewhere between citrus peel and woody root. It can be left out, but if you plan to make nasi bakar more than once, it's the first thing worth buying.
Kecap manis is not just sweet soy sauce; it leaves body and a mellow, caramelized-sugar roundness in the filling. Use any leftovers for sate ayam or mie goreng.
Sambal is there to control the heat. Put a little in the filling and add the rest on the side of the plate, so it doesn't get in the way of the leaf aroma and the sweetness of the rice.
Method: cook the rice firm and dry the filling before wrapping
Nasi bakar is 80 percent done before you even wrap it. Slightly firm rice, a filling with no liquid, and leaves soft enough to fold without cracking: get those three right and the rice won't leak out when you grill.
What to keep and what to swap in a home kitchen
You don't need to source every Indonesian ingredient to make nasi bakar. What matters is the aroma of the leaf wrapping, keeping the rice firm, cooking the liquid out of the filling, and adjusting the heat at the table.
Banana leaves are ideal, but some days you just won't find them. Wrap the inside in parchment paper and support the outside with aluminum foil and the parcel will hold its shape. You won't get the green leaf aroma or the charred scent from grilling, though. It's perfectly fine to learn the rice texture with the substitute first, then buy frozen banana leaves once you know you like the dish.
You can make it with short-grain rice alone. But if you cook it soft, it sets into a solid lump like a rice ball when you open the leaf. Using less water and drying the filling gives the lightness of leaf-wrapped rice. Mixing in jasmine rice improves the aroma but makes the parcels crumble more easily when wrapping, so keeping some short-grain rice in the mix makes them easier to handle.
Kemangi is an herb used widely in Indonesian cooking, but supply outside Indonesia is unreliable. Shiso alone tilts the dish toward Japanese food and basil alone toward Italian, so using half and half separates the sweet scent from the green notes. If you don't like herbs, you can make it with just scallions and shiso.
If you have no kecap manis, simmer 2 tsp soy sauce and 2 tsp dark brown sugar in a small pan for about 30 seconds until dissolved. Simply adding more sugar won't give enough body, and the filling will bleed into the rice.
Why leaf-wrapped rice stays on the table
In Indonesian cooking, the banana leaf serves as plate, wrapper and seasoning all at once. Unlike paper or foil, it does more than hold a shape: when heated, the green smell of its surface mellows and transfers faintly to the rice. What makes nasi bakar interesting is that the rice is neither fried nor resteamed; instead, grilling the outside of the parcel warms the rice inside. The leaf may char a little, but the rice never touches the direct heat. So even though it's a grilled dish, the rice doesn't dry out, and the aroma comes out all at once the moment you open it at the table.
The same principle suits carrying and making ahead. Each parcel holds one serving of rice and filling, and stalls and eateries only need to regrill it to serve. At home, too, you can wrap in the morning and warm the parcels in a skillet at lunch. Unlike a lunch box, the leaf itself carries aroma, so the act of opening it becomes part of the dish. Skip that, and even if the flavor is similar, half the fun of nasi bakar is gone.
Still, it's true that banana leaves are hard to keep on hand in many kitchens. So substitutes are fine the first time. But if you do buy frozen banana leaves, don't skip passing them over the flame to soften them. It doesn't just keep the leaves from cracking; that's where the aroma begins.
Common problems
| Problem | Main cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid leaks from the parcel | Filling not cooked down enough, too much kecap manis | Cook the filling 2 more minutes over medium-low until no liquid is left in the pan |
| Sticky rice | Rice cooked too soft, or cooled too much before wrapping | Next time use 2 tbsp less water. This time, open the leaf and eat it as mixed rice |
| Leaves tear | Cold leaves were folded, or the thick ribs were left on | Soften over a low flame for 5 seconds or steam for 30 seconds, and trim the thick ribs a little |
| No char | Pan not preheated enough, too much moisture | Preheat over medium heat for 2 minutes and grill without a lid |
| Only the leaves burn | Heat too high, too much oil brushed on | Lower to medium and don't go beyond 5 minutes per side |
Even failed parcels don't have to be thrown away. Take the crumbled portions out of the leaf and eat them as a small bowl of mixed rice with sambal and cucumber. What you most want to avoid with nasi bakar is wrapping wet rice and filling just to keep the parcels looking neat. Check the moisture before the shape.
Serving and storage
Freshly grilled parcels smell strongest the moment you open the leaf, so take the first bite plain. Then add about 1/2 tsp sambal to sharpen the sweetness of the coconut rice. For a soup on the side, Indonesian soto ayam (in Japanese) is a good match. Next to rich meat dishes, it is lighter than ayam betutu, and the rice plays a bigger role than with sate padang (in Japanese).
To store, wrap each parcel, leaf and all, in plastic wrap and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat, put the parcels, still in their leaves, in a skillet and cook over medium-low heat for 4 minutes per side. The microwave alone won't bring back the leaf aroma, so warm them at 600 W for 40 seconds, then grill in a skillet for 2 minutes per side to restore the texture. To freeze, wrap in plastic, leaf and all, and eat within 2 weeks. The rice firms up a little after thawing, so warm it in the microwave before grilling.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make it without banana leaves?
Yes. Wrap the inside in parchment paper and the outside in aluminum foil and the parcels will hold their shape. You won't get the leaf aroma or the charred scent from grilling, though. Learning the moisture of the rice and filling with the substitute first, then looking for frozen banana leaves if you like the dish, keeps waste to a minimum.
Can I use a filling other than chicken?
Yes. Canned tuna, grilled salmon, fried tofu (atsuage) and tempeh all work. Drain the oil from canned tuna, and cube the fried tofu and sear the surfaces before using. Whatever the filling, the key is to leave no liquid in it before wrapping.
Can I cook the rice in a rice cooker?
Yes. Add the rice, coconut milk, water, salt, sugar and aromatics, and use about 2 tbsp less liquid than for regular cooking. Stir as soon as it's done, and wrap once it has cooled enough to handle. If it comes out soft, let the steam escape for about 5 minutes before spreading it on the leaves.
Will it taste flat without sambal?
If you don't like heat, you can leave it out. The filling comes together with the kecap manis and soy sauce, so adding sambal at the table is enough. If only the adults want it spicy, open the leaf after grilling and spoon a little sambal on top.
How is it different from lemper or arem-arem?
Lemper is a snack of glutinous rice with a chicken filling, and arem-arem is closer to a market snack of rice and filling wrapped in leaves and steamed. Nasi bakar differs in that it wraps seasoned rice meant as a meal and finishes it on the grill to bring out the leaf aroma. All three are leaf-wrapped, but the type of rice, the final cooking method and the occasion for eating them differ.
