Seasoned rice, often mixed with a filling such as anchovy, shredded chicken, or salted fish and plenty of lemon basil, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled until the leaf chars and its aroma is driven deep into the grain. The name means simply grilled rice. Popular across Sundanese West Java and beyond, it is unwrapped at the table to a burst of smoky, herb-scented steam.
Nasi bakar grew out of the same Indonesian habit of cooking and carrying rice in banana leaves that gives us nasi timbel and pepes — but here the wrapped parcel is finished over fire rather than simply steamed. It is not tied to a single town or date; it is a widespread Sundanese and broader Indonesian preparation that became a popular warung and catering dish, valued because the leaf both seasons the rice and makes it portable.
Unwrap the blackened leaf and the rice underneath is fragrant and faintly grassy, shot through with whatever was folded in — salty anchovy, shredded chicken, the perfume of lemon basil. The grains nearest the leaf catch a little smoke and a slight crust from the grill. Savory, aromatic, and warming, eaten with sambal and fresh lalapan vegetables on the side.
The rice is cooked and seasoned first, then packed with its filling into a banana leaf and grilled — the second cook over fire is what defines the dish. As the leaf scorches it releases aromatic compounds into the sealed parcel, perfuming the rice from the outside in, while the trapped steam keeps the grain moist and finishes any raw filling. The thin layer of rice against the hot leaf dries slightly into a fragrant, lightly crisp skin.
Variations
Fillings range widely — salted anchovy with petai, shredded chicken, smoked skipjack (cakalang), salted fish, or mushroom for a meatless version — and chopped lemon basil is near-universal. Some cooks add a little coconut milk to the rice for richness. The same banana-leaf-and-fire method underlies pepes, where fish or tofu rather than rice is the centre.
On the Palate
Where Nasi Bakar sits in the Indonesian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 30 min active + 20 min waiting
- 115 min
Cook the rice and let it cool slightly.
- 26 min
Saute shallot, garlic, chili, and bay leaf, then fold in the anchovy or chicken filling.
- 33 min
Mix the seasoned filling and chopped lemon basil through the rice.
- 43 min
Soften banana leaves briefly over a flame so they fold without cracking.
Watch outPass the banana leaves over a flame just until they soften and turn glossy — supple leaves fold without splitting and won't leak.
- 56 min
Portion the rice onto the leaves, roll into parcels, and pin the ends.
- 612 min
Grill the parcels over charcoal or a hot pan, turning, until the leaves char and the rice is fragrant.
Watch outGrill the parcels until the leaves char and the rice smells fragrant — that scorch is what perfumes the rice through the leaf.
- 73 min
Rest briefly, then unwrap and serve with sambal and lalapan.
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