Mee Goreng is an Indian dish popular throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The dish consists of spicy wok-fried noodles combined with chicken, shrimp, tofu and lots of vegetables. The recipe is easy to prepare, delicious and the perfect way to get your kids to eat all of their vegetables. You could easily omit the chicken and shrimp in this recipe making this a completely vegetarian dish.

Malaysian yellow noodles (known as "mee") are soft noodles made from simply flour and eggs. They have a delicious wholesome flavor and texture. These noodles can be found in either fresh or dried form in most Asian markets. If unavailable, use the long thin Chinese egg noodles as a substitute.

Kecap manis is an Indonesian sauce similar to sweet soy sauce but flavored with star anise, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and palm sugar. The sauce is slightly thicker than soy sauce and has a wonderful rich caramel flavor. This unique condiment is also available in most Asian markets. If unavailable, you can easily use tamari as a substitute.

Mee Goreng has many variations, feel free to use your favorite vegetables such as snow peas, baby corn, carrots, savoy cabbage, zucchini, green peas, mushrooms or any color of bell peppers...

This dish requires high heat, quick stir frying as the cooking method. The easiest way to accomplish this in a home kitchen is in stages. Also, do all the prep work ahead of time and have everything ready and available when you are start to cook.


MEE GORENG

Ingredients:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into thin strips)
1/2 lb medium size shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
3 tbsp of fresh chili paste, to taste (see recipe below)
1 lb Malay yellow noodles (mee) or thin long Chinese egg noodles
1 cup of extra firm tofu, completely drained and cubed into small 1" pieces
1 medium potato
2 eggs
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
2 cups of your favorite vegetable (sliced, chopped or diced into equal size pieces)
1 cup of fresh mung bean sprouts
10-12 dried red chilies
1/4 c oil, vegetable or canola

Garnish:

freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 stalk of spring onion, green only, finely chopped
2 small Thai red chilies, thinly sliced

Mee Goreng Sauce: mix together and set aside until needed

4 tbsp of dark soy sauce
4 tbsp kecap manis (or use tamari)
6 tbsp of tomato ketchup
salt to taste
sugar to taste

Mee Goreng Chili Paste:

Blend the dried red chilies in a food processor. Add 2-3 tbsp of oil and then water as needed. Blend well into a thick paste (similar to a thick pesto). Heat a large wok on medium high heat, stir fry the chili paste until the oil begins to separate from paste. Remove from the heat, transfer to a small bown and set aside until needed.

METHOD:

Boil the potato until fork tender. Let cool slightly, carefully peel and dice into 1 inch pieces. Set aside until needed.

If you are using dried noodles, cook according to the package directions (slightly "al dente" is fine), drain well and set aside until needed.

Heat the same wok on medium high heat, and add 1-2 tbsp of oil. When hot, quickly stir fry the tofu pieces until browned on all sides. Remove and set aside until needed. Then to the same wok (add more oil if needed), add the shrimp and stir fry quickly until just barely pink or opaque. Quickly remove from the heat and set aside until needed. Then to the same wok (add more oil if needed), add the chicken pieces and stir fry quickly until just cooked.
Remove and set aside until needed.

Heat the same wok on medium high heat, and add 1-2 tbsp of oil. When hot, add the shallots, garlic and ginger. Stir fry quickly until just sligthly browned and then add the chili paste. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes and then add the vegetables and the potatoes. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Now add the noodles and the sauce and continue to stir fry for a few minutes. Add the shrimp, chicken and tofu to the wok and stir fry for 2-3 more minutes. Mix well to combine all of the ingredients thoroughly. Then push all of the vegetables, tofu, chicken, shrimp and noodles up along the the side of the wok, creating a small well in the center.

Add a little oil and then crack the eggs. Quickly scramble the eggs and mix with the other ingredients. Lastly, add the mung bean sprouts, lime juice and salt (if needed), toss until all of the ingredients are well combined. Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro, spring onions, red chilies and serve hot. Squeeze some extra lime juice over the noodles just before eating.