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Bruneian

Nasi katok

Non-vegetarian

Brunei's beloved cheap eat: a mound of plain rice, a piece of crisp spiced fried chicken and a spoonful of sweet-hot sambal, wrapped to take away.

Nasi katok is a Bruneian rice dish, ready in about 1 hour 30 minutes and made with chicken pieces, skin-on, dried whole chillies and long-grain white rice. It serves 4 and is rated intermediate to cook.

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Prep
20 min
Cook
40 min
Rest
30 min
Total
1 h 30 min
Serves
4
Level
Intermediate
Calories
855

Ingredients

4 servings

For the chicken

For the sambal

For the rice

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Rub the chicken with the garlic (opens in a new tab), ginger, turmeric (opens in a new tab), salt and white pepper (opens in a new tab) and marinate for 30 minutes.

    • 5 min
    Meat coated in a spiced marinade in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Ip Photographer on Pexels

  2. Step 2

    Blend the drained chillies, shallots (opens in a new tab), garlic (opens in a new tab) and shrimp paste (opens in a new tab). Fry the paste in the oil over medium-low heat, stirring, until dark red and the oil separates, then add tamarind, sugar (opens in a new tab) and salt.

  3. Step 3

    Rinse the rice and cook it in a rice cooker or covered pan until tender and the water is absorbed; keep warm.

    • 20 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Cool leftover cooked rice quickly and refrigerate within 1 hour; reheat until piping hot and only once.

  4. Step 4

    Heat the frying oil to 170 °C. Toss the chicken in the mixed flour and cornstarch (opens in a new tab) and fry in batches until deep golden and cooked through.

    Food safety: Never leave hot oil unattended, keep the pan no more than a third full, and lower food in away from you. Cook chicken until no pink remains and the juices run clear (74 °C in the thickest part).

  5. Step 5

    Serve each piece of chicken on rice with a spoonful of sambal and a few cucumber (opens in a new tab) slices.

    • 2 min
    A finished dish being plated
    How it looks · Photo: Willians Huerta on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Brunei · Well documentedThe name means 'knock rice', said to come from customers knocking on vendors' doors late at night; the story is popular rather than documented.More food from Brunei
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Rice dishes · Main courses
Cooking method
Deep-fried, Boiled
Taste
savoury, spicy (chilli heat), sweet & spicy
Diet
Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-protein
With the listed swaps: No gluten ingredientsWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Street food · Budget-friendly · Portable / lunchbox
Cook more with
Chicken pieces, skin-on · Dried whole chillies · Long-grain white rice · Garlic · Fresh ginger · Turmeric
Techniques
Deep-frying · Boiling · Bhunao · Marinating

Allergens

  • Contains: Crustaceansfrom shrimp paste
  • Contains, can be adapted: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour
  • Contains, can be adapted: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

855 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 299 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 17%
  • Carbohydrate 35%
  • Fat 48%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy855 kcal286 kcal
Protein35.2 g11.7 g
Carbohydrate74.9 g25 g
Net carbohydrate71.3 g23.8 g
Sugars6.3 g2.1 g
Added sugars3.1 g1 g
Fibre3.6 g1.2 g
Fat45.4 g15.2 g
Saturated fat8.3 g2.8 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol113 mg38 mg
Sodium1079 mg360 mg
Salt equivalent2.7 g0.9 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
649 mg
Calcium
63 mg
Iron
6 mg
Magnesium
67 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
113 µg
Vitamin C
7 mg
Vitamin D
0.3 µg
Vitamin B12
0.5 µg
Folate (DFE)
285 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: cucumber.
  • Shrimp paste: Fish sauce (FDC 174531) at 1.5× as a stand-in salted fermented seafood condiment; protein is understated.
  • Tamarind paste: Raw tamarind pulp (FDC 167763). Commercial concentrates vary in water content.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Make the sambal a day ahead; it keeps for a week and improves.

Common mistakes

  • Frying the chicken too hot — the coating burns before the meat by the bone is cooked.

Serve with

  • Traditionally wrapped in paper or a banana leaf as a take-away parcel.

Storage

  • Refrigerate chicken up to 2 days; sambal up to 1 week.

Reheating

  • Reheat chicken in a 200 °C oven for 10–12 minutes to re-crisp.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

For the chicken

Used in steps 1, 2, 4, 5

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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