Filipinos could not live without rice on the menu, whether at home or even in the restaurants. They love to eat rice because it completes their entire meal.
That is why Filipinos decided to experiment and elevate their plain steamed into something extraordinary. One of the elevated versions of their cooked rice is Fried Rice, which allows them to add more flavors and ingredients.
The most famous fried rice dish in the Philippines today is Java Rice. It is a rice dish served at home and from different famous restaurants like Aristocrat Banawe in Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines.
If you wonder what could be the taste of this dish, then come, and let's start discussing it, so when you try to cook the featured, it would taste phenomenal and incredible.
What is Best Java Rice Recipe
Java Rice is a bowl of yellow-colored rice that originated in the Philippines. It is the most common fried rice in the country because of its delicate taste and appetizing features.
It is a bowl of fried rice that utilizes turmeric and annatto as its main flavor. This dish is yellow to reddish rice because of the ingredients that add color to the rice dish.
Though the dish's name is Java rice, you should not mistake it for a rice dish from Indonesia because it is a rice dish that originated from the Philippines. But it is a bit similar to the rice dish called Tumpeng, an Indonesian rice dish served at home and in many restaurants.
It is a well-known Filipino fried rice usually served with fried or grilled main dishes. Many people love this rice dish because it is easy to do even at home as long as you have the ingredients for cooking the featured dish.
This dish's ingredients are annatto oil, turmeric (optional), salt, ground pepper, cold cooked rice, ginger, garlic, and onion. After you gather all the ingredients, you have to saute it before putting the cold cooked rice, the annatto oil, and the turmeric (if you want a more yellowish color). You have to put the cooked rice, the oil and turmeric, and season it with salt and pepper.
No doubt that this beautiful dish is a restaurant-quality dish that you could do at your home. It is very tasty and easy to create, which would give you more appetite because of its wonderful appearance.
Ways to Cook
Rice is the easiest dish to cook of all time. You could put it in a casserole or pot, then put above the burner or use a multi-cooker, then the rice would cook perfectly. Frying rice is different from steaming it, so here are some wonderful ways to cook a fried rice dish.
Instant pot
Instant pot cooking is different from the stove, where you have a burner to cook the rice dish. In an instant pot, you must use a multi-cooker, saute the pot ingredients, and then put all the cooked rice in it. Mix it well, then set the rice cooking time that you think it turns out perfectly cooked.
In this modern age, instant pot cooking is the most convenient way of cooking fried rice dishes like our menu.
Stovetop
Stove cooking is a classic and traditional way of cooking fried rice dishes like our menu. It is much easier than other methods because you would cook the fried rice depending on how crispy you want the rice turned out.
It is a great way to cook since you could see and control if the dish is perfectly cooked. You have a pan or casserole, the ingredients, and the burner. You have to saute first the ginger, garlic, and onion. Then put the cooked rice in the sauteing pan. Afterward, put annatto oil and turmeric. Season it with salt and ground pepper.
Fried rice, like this dish, is better for cooking in this method than an instant pot.
Other Delicious Variants and Recipes
To turn your simple fried rice into something extraordinary, here are some of the variations you would love to try to cook with your favorite dish.
Java Rice With Chicken
The first version on the list is always with chicken. This version is either cooking the dish with chicken as the added ingredient to the dish or serving it with chicken on the side.
If you cooked the fried rice with the chicken, you have to mince or cut the chicken to cube-sized, then saute it and the other ingredients. After sauteing it, you could add all the other ingredients and the cooked rice.
However, if you want to serve it with the chicken on the side, you must cook the rice first then put the chicken as the main dish, which is particularly and commonly served in many restaurants.
It is the first elevated dish of Java Fried rice. It is an elegant and classic dish which you would love to serve with your family.
With Ground Pork
The next version is with Ground pork. It is another dish elevated by adding ground pork to it. You could also put the ground pork above the fried rice as the garnish to the dish.
In this version, you have to saute the pork first and garlic, ginger, and onion to cook the meat properly. Afterward, you could add the cooked rice and the annatto oil and turmeric to create a bright yellow color to the rice when you cook it, then season with salt and pepper.
Like the minced chicken, it adds more flavor and taste to the dish and makes it an elegant dish that you would be proud to serve with your guest and your family. This version turned the classic into another kind of dish and honored the rice dish very well.
Without Turmeric Recipes
Java rice commonly uses turmeric as the flavoring and coloring agent to the classic rice dish. So, cooking without turmeric is another version of the featured fried rice dish.
In this version, you would cook the fried rice using an annatto oil to give a yellowish color to the dish. If you could not find turmeric in the grocery store or are not a fan of turmeric, this version is very suitable.
The dish could stand alone without turmeric because turmeric could be an optional ingredient to put on your dish depending on your taste and flavoring type. But overall, cooking this dish without turmeric is also a wonderful dish, especially for those who don't like turmeric in its recipes.
With Ketchup Recipes
It is the last version on the list with ketchup. Elevating this dish could be hard or easy, depending on the ingredient you want to add to the dish.
Ketchup is a condiment that many people, especially children, add to their meal, especially when eating fried recipes such as eggs, pork, and chicken. Adding it to the dish would make the dish more appealing because instead of the rice's plain yellow color, it would turn out to a reddish color.
It would also add sweetness and sour flavor to the rice dish that surely many would love. It helps you enhance the featured dish's flavor and taste, making this version a definitive version.
Trivia
Are you wondering if the Philippines' Java rice is the same and connected with the Indonesian fried rice called tumpeng and nasi goreng? Well, this dish in the Philippine is different from Indonesian fried rice. Philippines java rice uses turmeric as the flavoring and coloring agent.
Nasi goreng is a rice dish with a dark brown color, far from the Philippine java fried rice with a bright yellow color. It also differs from the ingredients used in both recipes. So, it is barely not connected to Indonesian recipes or culture. It is a rice cuisine that originated from the Philippines.
However, Tumpeng has a similar color to the dish, but the two rice dishes have different presentations and appearances. The Philippines Java rice ingredients vary from tumpeng, which uses rice cooked in coconut milk. The similarities of these two recipes aside from the color are the coloring agent, which is turmeric.
Overall, our menu is a dish that originates in the Philippines and is not related to Indonesian dishes.
Tips
You should not make an error when you are cooking with rice, so here are some useful tips that would help you to create this amazing dish.
- Use the cooked rice for this dish.
- Ensure that you leave the rice in the fridge for at least 24 hours to get rid of the excess moisture and allow the grains to separate and firm up before cooking.
- If you use freshly cooked rice, refrigerate it first to cool it down completely.
- Use a wide pan or a wok in cooking the fried rice.
- Set the cooking temperature into high heat to avoid the rice from sticking to the pan and have a nice toast and crispy texture to the dish.
Troubleshooting
A minimal error might occur when cooking fried rice dishes like our menu. So here are the few solutions that might help you save the rice dish.
- If you taste the dish a bit salty, you could add ketchup to balance the rice's flavor.
- However, if the dish tastes bland, you could add soy sauce to it.
Best Serve With
Our menu could not stand on its own. It needs other dishes that would highlight their unique taste and texture. Thus, we came up with the varieties of dishes perfect for our menu
- Roasted Pork Belly - is a pork dish roasted which highlights the rice when serving together.
- Grilled Pork belly- is a grilled dish that truly matches the unique taste of the rice dish.
- Korean Fried Chicken- is a fried dish that is perfect on any occasion with the featured rice dish.
- Tonkatsu- is a dish that is perfect for eating with fried rice dishes.
- Roast beef- is a roast dish that highlights the featured rice dish when served together.
- Beef Tapa- is an all-time favorite dish that compliments the taste of the rice dish.
- Korean Barbecue- is a barbecue dish that kicks your taste buds when served with our menu.
- Inihaw na Panga ng Tuna- is a grilled dish that surely highlights our menu when serving it.
- Fried tilapia- is a fish dish usually partnered with fried rice but could pair up with our menu.
- Inihaw na Pusit- is a dish that is perfect for our menu.
- Pineapple juice- is a sweet drink perfect for our menu along with other dishes.
Conclusion
Rice is an essential dish for Filipinos. But as for you who are not very much a fan of rice, this featured recipe is perfect for you.
It is a dish that is very simple, easy, and quick to cook if you want to try to serve it during breakfast. Trying this dish would give you more knowledge about different cuisines' flavor palettes, creating more outstanding dishes like the best Java rice.
If you are a Filipino-American citizen and missing the Filipino rice dishes, you could try making the dish. We already provide you all the information you need to create the dish. Its ingredients, ways to cook, varieties you could make in the featured dish, and even the tips to help you pull out a superb dish.
Try this dish and enjoy it with your family and friends! You could serve it on any occasion. So, take the courage to dive into this phenomenal Filipino rice dish.
For more delicious recipe, visit Eat Like Pinoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups Cooked rice
- 1 teaspoon Annatto oil
- 1 pc Onion small, cubed
- 3 cloves Garlic
- ½ thumb Ginger minced
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground black pepper
- 5 pcs Spring onions minced
- 1 teaspoon Cooking oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix rice with salt and pepper. Mix well then set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan. Saute garlic and onion until brown. Then add the ginger, cook for 2 minutes.
- Add rice on the pan, then pour-in annatto oil. Mix gently for 10 minutes.
- Ready to serve. Enjoy!