mee goreng

As mentioned previously, somewhere in D's absence I lost my cooking mojo. In discussion with H, I decided to stick only to noodles for the final week of living alone, because they're comfort food, and I can cook them with my eyes closed (don't try this at home).

Last night I got home a bit late, so I ducked into the IGA to collect a couple of veggies and a pack of noodles, for some quick mee goreng. There are many different styles of mee goreng, some are sweet, some have that gritty curry powder texture, some are Indian style. In every area there is a different way of cooking it (in Penang often potato is added). This is just one of my favourite methods.



Mee Goreng

Like all wok or hawker dishes, make sure you have everything prepared as it cooks very fast. I usually also mush up some tofu to add (as an egg substitute). You could add some fried shallots as garnish, most people do but I am not a big fan. This mee goreng has a little sugar and tomato sauce (translation to american: ketchup), which gives it a sweet undertone.

This takes about twenty minutes to make, and serves three or four people.

ingredients
500g Hokkien noodles
1 clove garlic (crushed or minced)
1 tomato (cut into small wedges)
2 bulbs bok choy (leaves cut in half or thirds, stalks sliced length-ways)
half a cup of bean shoots (tails off)
1 carrot (julienned)
1 potato (steamed and julienned)
1 or 2 red chillis (sliced into rounds)
4 or five shakes of vegetarian oyster sauce
5 shakes dark soy sauce
a little bit of kejap manis
1 tspish tomato sauce
some chilli sauce
1 tsp sugar

method
Combine together the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, kejap manis, and tomato sauce, and add a few shakes of chilli sauce.

Soak the noodles in hot water for thirty seconds, then drain and set aside.

Heat up the wok, and coat the insides with a thin layer of peanut oil. Throw in the ginger, carrot, potato, and chilli, and fry for a minute or two. Add a teaspoon or three of water to the wok, then put the lid on. Leave to steam for about five minutes, until the carrot starts to soften. Throw in the bok choy stalks (ONLY) and the tomato, add a tiny bit more water if necessary, and replace the lid. There should not be a lot of water, only enough to keep it steaming!

After a minute or three, throw in the noodles and the sauce. Combine thoroughly, and add the bok choy leaves. Put the lid on for a minute and leave to make lots of noises. When you next take off the lid, and try to toss the noodles, they should have started sticking to the wok, because all the liquid has dried up. This is good, but don't get too complacent! Alternate between tearing the noodles up off the wok, and leaving to burn, for about another two or three minutes. During this time, add the bean shoots, and fold them in.

Serve hot.