Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Nasi Katok
A simple plate of rice, fried chicken, and fiery sambal, Brunei's famously cheap everyday meal.
Bruneian · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 25 min
~589 cal · 49g protein · 68g carbs · 11g fat · 2g fiber · 4g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Nasi katok is Brunei's most iconic everyday meal, a humble, affordable plate that has become a national institution. Its name, meaning knock rice, supposedly comes from customers knocking on the shutters of sellers' homes to buy it late at night.
The formula is simplicity itself: a mound of plain steamed rice, a piece of fried chicken, and a generous spoon of sambal, the hot chili paste that is the soul of the dish. Wrapped in paper and sold for pocket change, it is the go-to meal for students, workers, and anyone in Brunei looking for something quick, filling, and satisfying.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 1/2 lb chicken pieces
2 tbsp turmeric and garlic (for marinade)
8 dried and fresh chilies (for sambal)
6 shallots and garlic
1 tbsp
4 cups cooked rice, to serve
for frying oil, for frying
Instructions
1
Marinate the chicken in turmeric, garlic, and salt, then fry until deep golden and crisp.
2
Make the sambal: blend the chilies, shallots, and garlic, then fry with tamarind and a little sugar and salt until dark and thick.
✎ Chef’s note
Fry the sambal patiently until it darkens and the oil separates; that slow cooking is what deepens its flavour beyond raw chili heat.
3
Pile rice on each plate with a piece of fried chicken.
4
Add a generous spoon of sambal and serve.
Bruneian everyday tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Bandar Seri Begawan. Brunei's capital eats ambuyat, a translucent sago starch twirled on bamboo forks and dipped into sour cacah sauce because it has almost no flavour of its own. Malay cooking surrounds it: coconut rice, grilled fish, and rich beef rendang.
🗺️
Brunei. Bruneian cuisine echoes Malay traditions, built on rice, seafood, and the distinctive sago-starch ambuyat eaten with a sour dip. Rich, spiced, and coconut-laced, it reflects a small, food-loving sultanate.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Brunei
AmbuyatA glassy sago starch eaten with bamboo forks and dipped in a tart, pungent cacah sauce.
KatilapamSoft steamed rice-flour cakes lightly spiced and faintly sweet, a Bruneian teatime and breakfast bite.
PenyaramA chewy fried cake of rice flour and palm sugar with lacy, crisp edges, a traditional Bruneian and Bornean sweet.
Browse all Brunei recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Brunei meal
Air KatiraDrink
PenyaramDessert
AmbuyatDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Nasi Katok?
A simple plate of rice, fried chicken, and fiery sambal, Brunei's famously cheap everyday meal.
Where does Nasi Katok come from?
Nasi Katok is a Bruneian dish from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei.
Can Nasi Katok be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Nasi Katok recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Nasi Katok safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Nasi Katok take to make?
About 45 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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