[Indonesian Recipes] Bami Goreng

Bami goreng, also known as mie goreng or bakmi goreng is a traditional Southeastern Asian dish. Basically, bami goreng is a spicy fied noodle meal. You can easily find it on the menu if you travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and other Southeastern Asian countries.

It’s a rich Asian street food style dish, which is often fried with some meat such as chicken or beef. Actually, it reminds me a little bit of a crispy chilli beef recipe. In contrast to the crispy chilli recipe, yellow egg noodles are fried in cooking oil. So bami goreng isn’t served with rice. Just think of a bami goreng as a spicy stir-fry with noodles. Generally speaking, it is a one pot recipe and no side dishes are required.

You can easily whip up a bami goreng recipe in a matter of minutes. Therefore, it’s a perfect recipe for a quick lunch or lazy dinner. In addition, it stores quite well and can last you for some days in the fridge. Enjoy exploring the flavours of Southeastern Asia!
Bami Goreng Recipe With Chicken

This bami goreng is not a vegetarian recipe, although it can easily be manipulated into one. My bami goreng recipe calls for the addition of chicken breasts and oyster sauce. Now, prior to you cooking the chicken, I highly recommend you making brined chicken breasts.

Brining chicken helps to retain the moisture of the chicken and keeps the chicken juicy. I believe we’ve all had our fair share of dry and stringy chicken breasts. If you brine them beforehand, they are less likely to dry out when they are exposed to the heat. So, discover how to brine chicken with my ultimate guide to brining chicken.



Origins

Today, bami goreng is more associated to Indonesian cuisine. Believe it or not, actually this dish originated in China and was influenced by the traditional Chinese dish, Chow Mein. The latter only arrived in Indonesia thanks to Chinese immigrants. Soon local versions of the dish started appearing in parts of Indonesia.

So, now that you know that bami goreng is originally a Chinese dish, you are probably wondering how the Indonesians adapted it. It’s simple. They’ve tweaked it in their own way to also cater for the large Muslim community living in Indonesia. Hence, there are different versions which use chicken, shrimp or beef, instead of pork or lard. Moreover, the following ingredients were added to make bami goreng truly unique:
a sweeter soy sauce, called kecap manis
fried shallots
spicy sambal oelek paste

Today, you can find bami goreng in high-end restaurants as well as being served on carts in the street. Whether it be in Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, you name it.

Funnily enough, this is one of Netherlands’ national dishes because a few centuries ago the Dutch colonised Indonesia!

Nasi Goreng

Nasi goreng is a similar version but instead of fried noodles fried rice is used. This is also a typical Indonesian rice dish. You can easily convert this bami goreng into nasi goreng. Just stir-fry the rice into the existing recipe, and leave the noodles out.
Bami Goreng In UK

If you’re lucky, you might find bami goreng in the UK by going to a Chinese restaurant. You stand a better chance of finding it on the menu of an Indonesian restaurant. Fortunately, this recipe has been tweaked so that readers from UK and other English-speaking countries can prepare it at home!

Vegetarian Bami Goreng Recipe

To make this bami goreng recipe vegetarian-friendly, remove the chicken. Without a doubt, the dish will remain just as tasty. Just increase the quantities of broccoli and other vegetables. Here are some other vegetables you can use:

• Chinese cabbage
• red or white cabbage
• tomatoes
• snap peas
• baby corn
• green or red bell pepper
• bean sprouts
• mushrooms
• bamboo 

However, if you want more protein in your meal, then use tofu. Also, smoked tofu works well and will add a nice intensity to the dish.
Low-Carb Bami Goreng

Next, to make this a low-carb meal, take out the egg noodle and go heavy on the green vegetables, especially broccoli. You can also substitute the egg noodles with zoodles, i.e. courgette noodles!

Bami Goreng

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4 Main Course-Sized Portions 1x


INGREDIENTS

• 250g (8oz) dried egg noodles
• 30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 30ml (2 tbsp) dark soy sauce
• 60ml (¼ cup) kecap manis
• 60ml (¼ cup) oyster sauce
• 5ml (1 tsp) sambal oelek
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
• 8 tenderstem broccoli, washed
• 67g (1 cup) kale, washed and chopped
• 15ml (1 tbsp) sesame oil
• 4 spring onions, peeled and chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil the egg noodles in salted water according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix the garlic, soy sauce, kecap manis, oyster sauce and sambal oelek. Set aside.
3. Fry the chicken in the vegetable oil on a high heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add the shallot, carrot, broccoli and kale to the chicken and stir fry for another 5 minutes.
5. Pour in the sauce and let the mixture bubble as you keep stir frying for 3 more minutes .
6. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with sesame oil and spring onions, and serve immediately. Enjoy!

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Greedygourmet.com. Thanks so much!