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Mee goreng mamak

Name: Mee goreng mamak
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce); 3 tbsp tomato ketchup; 1 tbsp sugar; 80 ml vegetable oil; 2 clove garlic, minced; 2 piece red Asian shallots, thinly sliced; 1 tbsp chilli paste; 1 piece potato, boiled, peeled and diced; 2 piece pieces of fried tofu, cut into 5 cm slices; 1 piece 5 cm piece of fish cake, thinly sliced (optional); 200 g cleaned calamari, sliced into rings; 500 g fresh yellow egg noodles, blanched 1 minute, drained and refreshed; 2 piece large eggs; salt and ground white pepper; 90 g bean sprouts (1 cup); 1 piece baby cos lettuce, leaves separated; 2 piece tomatoes, sliced; 0.5 piece telegraph cucumber, sliced; 1 piece lime, in wedges

mee goreng mamak

Yellow egg noodles fried hard in a wok with potato, fried tofu, calamari and egg, coated in a sauce of kecap manis, soy and tomato ketchup and served with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and lime. Diana Chan's version of the noodles of Malaysia's mamak eateries.

Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.

Servings: 4
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 5 min
Total: 25 min
Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

Wok and a strong burner
Pan of boiling water for blanching the noodles

To drink & serve with

Nasi lemak
Malaysia's best-known rice plate.

Substitutions

Calamari → Prawns or chicken, or more tofu for a meat-free plate (check the chilli paste for shrimp).

Common mistakes

Adding the sauce too early: it burns before the noodles are hot.

Storage & reheating

Best eaten at once. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and eat within 2 days.

Safety

Contains gluten, egg, soy, molluscs (calamari) and fish (fish cake); many chilli pastes contain dried shrimp (crustaceans).

Allergens

Gluten · Egg · Soy · Molluscs · Fish

Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

Noodles of the mamak stall

Mee goreng means fried noodles, and the version from the mamaks, Malaysia's open-air eateries, is the best known. Diana Chan describes yellow noodles tossed through a rich sauce of kecap manis and tomato ketchup with potato, fried tofu, calamari and egg.

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Five minutes over high heat

All the preparation comes first: the potato boiled and diced, the noodles blanched for a minute, the sauce mixed. The cooking takes about five minutes in a very hot wok: aromatics, then the solids, then the noodles, the egg scrambled in a clearing at the side, the sauce and finally the sprouts. Cold, crisp salad on the side balances the sweet, spicy noodles.

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