Nasi Balls – Rice Fritters

Who ever visits The Netherlands probably knows our famous ‘bitterballs’ and ‘nasi and bami balls’ (fried rice and noodle fritters). The Dutch buy them at the snackbar and eat them with French fries and mayonaise or a peanut sauce dressing.

I do not like these typical Dutch snacks. But what I do like about them is the fact that this ‘typical’ Dutch food comes from Indonesia ;-).

Arancini

A fried rice ball is also famous in Italy by te way. There they are called arancino (singular arancini) and are made from risotto rice.

You can find a nice recipe for arancino on this site. The recipe for Arancino di riso comes from the 10th century (according to wiki) during the time that Sicily was under Arab rule. Read more about it here.

Fried Rice

Now I have some fried rice (nasi goreng) leftover from yesterday so I love to try and make nasi balls today.

I add a raw egg to my rice and mix everything well. Then I form small balls by hand. If the rice is too dry (basmati rice for example), I add a few tablespoons of flour or rice flour to the rice and egg mix. This will make everything extra sticky.

Japanese panko

Now I roll my balls through some breadcrumbs. In this case I use Japanese breadcrumbs: panko. This is a little coarser than regular crumbs. Then I fry them in a good layer of frying oil. My balls turn into crispy, delicious fritters.

Nasi balls

We eat our nasi fritters with a spicy pumpkin soup with sweet potato and a freshly made cabbage salad.

More rice recipes

Beb Vuyk has many delicious rice recipes in her book. Check them out here.

I also make of desserts with rice or rice flour. Check those recipes here.

Selamat makan!