A Love Letter to Nasi Goreng, Jakarta's Street Food Staple
"On a recent trip to Jakarta, my first in more than ten years, I returned to Menteng with some old friends. We achieved a steady buzz over multiple orders of cold Bintang beer and then went in search of nasi goreng gila. We found our way to Nasi Goreng Gila OK, a fluorescently lit cart where a man in his thirties named Yadi has been pumping out the namesake dish since he was a teenager. His eleven-year-old son took our order, and, with military precision, went sprinting back to his dad, rattling it off. I walked around back and watched while Yadi poured oil, rice, and an assortment of meats and chili peppers into a wok. Ten minutes later, out came three plates. Back at one of about a dozen folding tables lined up along the street, we dug in."
