Mee Goreng

The noodle version of Nasi Goreng, this dish uses the same paste and flavours for those that prefer noodles to rice. A truly authentic Bali flavour.

In this recipe I use some pre cooked chicken and some different vegetables to the Nasi Goreng recipe although the flavour of the dish is really very similar. This recipe is a great way to use up pre cooked chicken, alternatively pre cook some diced chicken or use prawns instead. I have added some green beans, broccoli stems and baby corn to add a little texture to the dish.

I froze half the paste from my Nasi Goreng recipe, which defrosts well and retains that wonderful flavour of Bali. If you are cooking this dish first either freeze the remaining paste and defrost before cooking or store in an airtight container in a fridge for up to 7 days.

Serves two people

Preparation 15 minutes, cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

For Mee Goreng paste:
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Handful peanuts
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp turmeric
2 white onions – peeled
Thumb of root ginger – peeled, roughly chop
2 stalks lemon grass – discard outer husks, thinly slice
6 cloves garlic – peel
2 large red chillies
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 dessert spoon brown sugar
1 Tbsp Ketchup manis
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Method: Use a min blender to blitz into a smooth paste. Chopping the tough ingredients before blending helps make a smooth paste. Only use half for this recipe, the remainder can be frozen or stored in the fridge (see notes above).

For the main dish:

2 portions of pre cooked medium thick egg noodles
2 portions of pre cooked chicken – see notes above for alternatives
Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp for dish plus extra to shallow fry prawns and fry egg
1 carrot – cut into thin batons
4 birds eye chilies – keep whole
1 red onion – cut into thin strips
6-8 baby corn – thinly sliced
6-8 broccoli spears – trimmed
8-10 fine green beans – trimmed, cut into 2-3cm lengths
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. ketchup manis
1 tbsp. light soy sauce
2-3 tbsp. peanuts
2-3 tbsp. onion flakes
5cm cucumber – deseed, peel, cut into crescents
2 round tomatoes – cut into eighths
Handful coriander leaf – roughly chopped
2 eggs – fried sunny side up

Method: Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a wok or deep-frying pan until smoking hot, add the curry paste and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the baby corn, broccoli, green beans, carrot, onion and birds eye chillies and fry for a further minute. Next add the pre cooked chicken and stir fry until heated through. Add the pre cooked noodles and stir through until combined with paste, chicken and vegetables. Add a tablespoon of tomato paste, ketchup manis and light soy sauce and stir into the noodles until combined then add the onion flakes and peanuts. Stir fry for a further minute until dish is heated through. Add the coriander, tomatoes and cucumber, stir through the dish then turn off the heat. In a separate pan add a little oil and quickly fry 2 eggs sunny side up. Serve immediately with the fried egg on top of the noodles.