Mee Goreng

Ingredients

Noodles

• 600 gfresh yellow noodles, mee

Sambal

• 8dried chillies, soaked
• 4shallots
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 1 tspbelacan, shrimp paste, toasted

Stir fry

• 4 tbspoil
• 200 gchicken or prawns
• 2potatoes, boiled and diced
• 100 gtofu puffs, halved
• 150 gbean sprouts
• 100 gchoy sum or mustard greens
• 2eggs

Sauce

• 3 tbspkecap manis, sweet soy
• 1 tbsplight soy sauce
• 2 tbsptomato ketchup
• 1 tspsugar
• salt

To serve

• lime wedges
• fried shallots
• sliced green chilli in soy

Directions

1. Rinse the fresh yellow noodles in hot water and drain them thoroughly, loosening the strands with your fingers. Fresh yellow noodles are packed in oil and often alkaline water, and rinsing takes off both the surface starch and the slight soapy taste.
2. Drain them completely dry. Wet noodles steam in the wok instead of frying, and you get a soggy mee goreng. Pound or blend the soaked chillies, shallots, garlic and toasted belacan into a fine sambal paste.
3. Toast the belacan first, wrapped in foil in a dry pan, until it smells strong and dry. Untoasted shrimp paste tastes raw and harsh, and toasting it is a two-minute step that changes the whole dish.
4. Heat the wok until it is smoking, then add the oil. Get the wok genuinely hot. Fry the sambal paste for 3 to 4 minutes until the oil separates out and it darkens. Fry the paste until you see the oil split from it. Add the chicken or prawns and stir fry until just cooked. Add the potato and the tofu puffs and toss them in the paste.
5. Cook the eggs in their own space rather than stirring them through. Poured over the noodles they coat everything in a film instead of forming soft curds. Add the noodles and the sauces and toss hard for 2 minutes. Toss and lift the noodles rather than stirring them, so they meet the hot metal repeatedly.
6. Add the greens and bean sprouts and toss for 30 seconds only. Add the sprouts at the very last moment. Thirty seconds keeps them crunchy and two minutes turns them limp.
7. Taste and adjust: it should be sweet, savoury and hot together, with the sweetness of the kecap manis leading. Serve immediately with lime wedges, fried shallots and sliced chilli in soy.

Technique

• The Indian Muslim mamak version leans on ketchup and is sweeter and redder.
• Cook it in two batches rather than one crowded wok, which halves the heat.
• Tofu puffs soak up the sauce and are worth including.

Substitutions

• Any fresh egg noodle, or dried noodles cooked and cooled.
• Ready-made sambal oelek with extra shallot and garlic.

Variations

• Mee goreng mamak, the Indian Muslim version.
• Vegetarian, with tofu and no belacan.
• With squid and prawns, as a seafood version.

History

Fried noodles from Chinese and Indian Muslim cooking, adapted with local sambal and sold at Brunei’s night markets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mee Goreng?

Mee Goreng is a main from Brunei: fried yellow noodles with soy, egg and vegetables. Fried noodles from Chinese and Indian Muslim cooking, adapted with local sambal and sold at Brunei’s night markets.

How long does Mee Goreng take to make?

Mee Goreng takes 25 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mee Goreng?

Yes, within limits. Any fresh egg noodle, or dried noodles cooked and cooled. Ready-made sambal oelek with extra shallot and garlic.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mee Goreng?

Drain them completely dry. Wet noodles steam in the wok instead of frying, and you get a soggy mee goreng. Pound or blend the soaked chillies, shallots, garlic and toasted belacan into a fine sambal paste.