Mie goreng

Origin

Chinese influences are evident in Indonesian food, such as bakmi, mie ayam, pangsit, bakso, lumpia, kwetiau goreng, and mie goreng. The dish is derived from Chinese chow mein and believed to have been introduced by Chinese immigrants in Indonesia. Despite being influenced by Chinese cuisine, mie goreng in Indonesia have a definite Indonesian taste, it has been more heavily integrated into Indonesian cuisine; for example the application of popular sweet soy sauce that add mild sweetness, sprinkle of fried shallots, addition of spicy sambal and the absence of pork and lard in favour of shrimp, chicken, or beef; to cater for the Muslim majority.

Asian stir fried noodle akin to mie goreng is arguably can trace its origin to China. In Malaysia and Singapore; however, the dish is believed to have been created by Indian immigrants who drew influences from their own as well as other cultures. Mee Goreng, which is fried yellow noodles commonly found in Malaysia, is commonly sold in Mamak stall; Mamak is a local term for Muslim Malaysian Indians hawkers. The Mamaks borrowed noodles from their Chinese counterparts and create their own spicy version. The naming in Malay: mee goreng is also meant to signify that it is a halal food; cooked by Indian-Muslim in Malaysia, in contrast to Malaysian Chinese version that often non-halal and retain its original Chinese names. The Malaysian Indian mee goreng mamak is a Malaysian phenomenon, since this version cannot be found in India itself.

Variations

Mie goreng are traditionally made with yellow wheat noodles, stir fried with chopped shallots, onion, and garlic with soy sauce seasoning, egg, vegetables, chicken, meat or seafood. However, other versions might use dried instant noodle instead of fresh yellow wheat noodle. The powdered instant noodle seasonings are usually included in the dish, added with egg and vegetables, they are common in Indonesia and Malaysia. Authentic mie goreng uses fresh ingredients and spices, however, bottled instant spice paste might be used for practical reasons.

The almost identical recipe is often used to create other dishes. For example bihun goreng is made by replacing yellow wheat noodle with bihun or rice vermicelli, while kwetiau goreng uses shahe fen or thick flat rice noodles instead.

Indonesia

A number of mie goreng variants exist. In Indonesia mie goreng variants are usually named after the ingredients, while some might be named after the region of origin.

• Mie goreng ayam or common mie goreng uses chicken with shallots, garlic, leek, sweet soy sauce, egg, and vegetables typically added as well.
• Mie goreng ayam penyet mie goreng topped with ayam penyet smashed fried chicken with sambal.
• Mie goreng sapi, similar to common traditional mie goreng, but uses beef instead.
• Mie goreng kambing uses goat meat or mutton.
• Mie goreng udang uses shrimp.
• Mie goreng seafood uses seafood which includes mixture of fish, squid, and shrimp.
• Mie Goreng Aceh a mie goreng variant from Aceh province, which uses a thicker noodle similar to that of spaghetti, and employs a curry-like rich spicy paste.
• Mie goreng Jawa from Central Java, employ sweet soy sauce, egg, chicken, and vegetables. In restaurant, warung or travelling food vendor, it usually sold and offered together with mie rebus (lit. "boiled noodle") or mie Jawa.
• Mie goreng tek-tek refer to mie goreng sold by travelling street hawkers that hitting the wok making "tek-tek" sounds to announce their wares. The seller with his food cart frequenting the residence areas, usually also offers nasi goreng and mie rebus. It is common in Jakarta and some large cities in Java.
• Mie goreng dhog-dhog also known as Mie goreng Surabaya from Surabaya city. Refer to travelling food cart vendor selling mie goreng Surabaya that uses large wooden slit drum instead to announce his presence in the neighbourhood, thus creates "dhog-dhog" sounds.

• Indomie Mi goreng the instant version of mie goreng, Indomie Mi goreng is also popular in Indonesia and other countries, notably Netherlands, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, United States and several Middle Eastern countries. This instant version however, is not technically goreng (stir-fried), but boiled instead and seasoned after discarding the water used for boiling. Nevertheless, it tries to closely resemble the authentic mie goreng by adding sweet soy sauce and crispy fried shallot. It is commonly found in warung Indomie stalls that sell instant noodles, grilled sandwiches and hot drinks in Indonesian urban areas.

Indonesians tend to name similar foreign dishes as mie goreng, for example in Indonesia, chow mein is often called mie goreng Tionghoa and yakisoba is called mie goreng Jepang.

Malaysia

In Malaysia, mie goreng is associated with Malaysian Indian cuisine and is famous for being prepared and sold at Mamak stalls around the country. The dish has spawned unique variations found in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore.

• Mee goreng mamak. A common variation of mie goreng is mee goreng mamak which is sold at Mamak stalls run by Indian Muslims in Malaysia. This variation is distinguished from others through the use of spices, tomato sauce, potatoes, sweet soy sauce, and curry spice. Chilli is another common ingredient used in this dish.
• Maggi goreng is a variation originating from the Indian Muslim community and sold in Mamak stalls around Malaysia. It uses Maggi instant noodles instead of standard yellow noodles.

Singapore

In Singapore, the availability of mie goreng is largely similar to that found in Malaysia, including the Mamak version. Singapore is also home of the Punggol mie goreng, so called due to its origins at the Punggol End bus station. It is closely related to the Peranakan Chinese-style mie goreng, and includes stir-fried rempah, yellow Chinese noodles, seafood (typically prawns). Some versions include the addition of imitation crab, cabbage, and bean sprouts.