While many people associate the Italians with pasta, noodles were first eaten in China more than 4,000 years ago. Noodles are a staple not only in Chinese cooking but across all Asian cuisines. If you have a desire to cook Malay street food, you can't go wrong with mee goreng. This traditional Malaysian pasta dish is a blend of Indian spices and Asian condiments. This one dish meal has everything you could want to eat on a single plate. Yellow egg noodles are stir-fried and tossed with sweet and salty soy sauces, madras curry powder, chicken, calamari, and beef. A teaspoon of sambal adds spice while the curry powder gives the noodles warmth. Most of the ingredients can be found in your local market while some specialty ingredients can be located at an Asian market or online.
Muslim Indian Mee Goreng
Courtesy of Malaysia Kitchen
1 teaspoon Chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon. Kosher salt
3 heaping teaspoon chopped shallots
1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek to taste (Malaysian chili condiment that can be purchased in Asian gorcery stores)
1 teaspoon Hot Madras curry powder
1 tablespoon Salty soy sauce (such as ABC Brand Kecap Asin)
1 tablespoon Sweet soy sauce (such as ABC Brand Kecap Asin)
1 ounce Beef (thinly sliced)
1 ounce Chicken (thinly sliced)
3 Shrimp (peeled and deveined)
2 ounces Calamari (thinly sliced)
8 ounces Precooked egg noodles (such as Lo Mein)
2 Stalks yu choy (also known as green choy sum, available in Asian markets), cut into 2 inch pieces
1 Whole egg
1/2 cup Bean sprouts
2 tablespoon. + 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
1 Lime wedge
Grind garlic and salt in a mortar. Add the chopped shallots and Sambal Oelek (a Malaysian chili-based condiment), and grind until they form a paste.
Heat a wok over medium-low heat. Drizzle in 2 Tbs.s of oil and add the ingredients from the mortar. Add the curry powder and stir, heating until aromatic. Add both soy sauces and the meat and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until the meat is cooked through.
Add the noodles and yu choy. Stir fry for 30 seconds, then push the mixture to one side of the wok.
Drizzle 1 tsp. of oil and scramble an egg in the space you’ve created in the pan. Add the bean sprouts and toss all ingredients together over the heat.
Ladle onto a plate and garnish with a wedge of lime. Squeeze lime juice over the mee goreng dish before eating.
Kitchen secret: You can use only one type of protein in this mee goreng recipe or many according to your liking. Substitute tofu to make this a vegetarian Indian mee goreng.
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