MEE GORENG

Serves 4

Mee goreng basically means fried noodles in Malay. Noodles are of Chinese origin and so I believe mee goreng, which is always associated with the South Indian Muslims, evolved from Chinese noodle recipes. In the mid 1970s, a version of mee goreng called Ponggol mee gorengwas introduced by a Chinese businessman. The dish was said to have been prepared with tomato and chilli sauces, dried prawn (shrimp) paste, spices and almost 12 herbs! It also included seafood like squid and prawns. The Indian version of this dish uses minced mutton, peas, bean curd, potatoes and Chinese flowering cabbage. Some food stalls today use a very red tomato sauce to flavour the dish which tends to colour the noodles red.

Minced mutton 200 g (6 oz)
Chilli powder ½ tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Salt 1½ tsp
Chilli paste 1½ Tbsp
Tomato sauce 2 Tbsp
Dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp
Cooking oil 3 Tbsp
Onion 1, medium, peeled and cubed
Green chilli 1, sliced
Ginger-garlic paste  1 Tbsp
Meat curry powder 2 tsp
Tomatoes 125 g (4 oz), medium
Chinese flowering cabbage 200 g (7 oz)
cut into 5-cm (2-in) lengths
Bean sprouts 200 g (7 oz)
Frozen peas 100 g (3½ oz), thawed
Fresh yellow noodles 500 g (1 lb 1½ oz),
rinsed and drained
Firm bean curd 2 pieces, fried and cubed
Potato 1, boiled, peeled and cubed
Eggs 2, medium, lightly beaten with
a pinch of salt
Calamansi limes 5–6, cut into halves

1. Place mutton, chilli powder, garam masala powder and ½ tsp salt in a pan. Cook over
medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until meat is cooked and dry. There is no need to
use any liquid to cook the mutton.
2. Combine chilli paste, tomato sauce and dark soy sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Heat cooking oil and sauté onion and green chilli until onion is soft. Add ginger-garlic
paste and curry powder and sauté over low heat until oil separates. Add tomatoes and
sauté for 1 minute.
4. Add remaining 1 tsp salt, Chinese flowering cabbage, bean sprouts and peas and sauté
until Chinese flowering cabbage leaves are just done.
5. Add noodles, chilli paste mixture, cooked minced mutton, fried cubed bean curd and
potato cubes. Stir-fry over high heat until well combined.
6. Push noodles to the side of the pan and pour beaten egg in the middle of pan. Leave to
cook until egg is just set, then scramble it along with the noodles.
7. Adjust salt to taste as desired. Dish out and serve with calamansi limes.

NOTE
• Omit the mutton and replace with 250 g (9 oz) peeled prawns if seafood is desired.
Add the prawns after sautéing the onion and green chilli.
• Leave out the meat or prawns completely to make this a vegetarian dish