Recipes excerpted from Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen by Lara Lee. Reproduced by permission of Bloomsbury.
PRAWN AND CHICKEN FRIED NOODLES
MIE GORENG UDANG
Mie goreng translates as ‘fried noodles’ and there are as many variations as there are islands in Indonesia. Common to each version are the chewy egg noodles that form the base of the dish, coated in a delicious sweet and salty sauce, stirred together with vegetables, meat, tofu or seafood.
Enjoyed by both young and old alike, this comforting Indonesian meal will satisfy even the fussiest of little eaters and is a great meal to cook for the whole family. It’s a dish that can be made from whatever is lurking in your fridge or pantry, so feel free to swap out the prawns and chicken for tofu and include any greens that need using up. Serve with kerupuk or prawn crackers for extra crunch.
Origin Popular all over Indonesia
Sambal suggestion Fermented shrimp sambal terasi (p.208)
Serves 4
480g fresh egg noodles or 200g dried egg noodles 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 330g total weight), cut into bite-sized pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
225g raw king prawns, peeled and deveined 200g mangetout
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp kecap manis (p.254)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
Coconut oil or sunflower oil, for frying
To serve
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal Kerupuk (p.28) or prawn crackers
- If using fresh egg noodles, poke a few holes in
- the packet and massage to separate them. If using dried egg noodles, cook according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken until it begins to brown and you can no longer see any raw pinkness, then add the sliced garlic and fry for 1 minute, stirring continuously. Push the chicken to one side of the pan and
- add another 2 teaspoons of oil. Pour the beaten eggs into the oil and allow the eggs to set for
- 1 minute before stirring briefly to scramble them, then stir everything together. Add the prawns and mangetout and cook for another 2 minutes, adding a little more oil if the pan looks dry. Stir continuously so it does not burn.
- Add the noodles to the pan and stir well to combine with the rest of the ingredients. Finally, add the soy, kecap manis, fish sauce and tomato ketchup to the pan and stir well to warm everything through.
- Divide the noodles between four serving plates and serve immediately with a sprinkle of spring onions and a side of crackers.
London based Indonesian-Australian Lara Lee is a food writer, chef and co-founder of London based catering company Kiwi and Roo. Her first cookbook, Coconut & Sambal: Recipes from my Indonesian Kitchen (Bloomsbury) is named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2020 by The New York Times, Eater and The Guardian.
