Indonesian Bahmi Goreng

Frank Bylard's Note:

As a young teenager in the 50's, my mother used to send me & my younger brother to the Indonesian Quarters in Amsterdam to buy 2 buckets of steaming hot Bahmi Goreng. (A Saturday event). Through many experiments & using numerous suggestions from others, I have been making this one now for about 30 years. It takes a bit of preparing but it is worth the effort. Preparation and cooking times are approximates only.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 250 g pork , diced & fried
• 500 g egg noodles (specifically Chinese egg noodles)
• 250 g bean sprouts
• 1 small bok choy , sliced (Chinese cabbage)
• 1 head celery , sliced
• 1 small cauliflower , small chunks
• 4 leeks , sliced
• 1 ¼ cm ginger , finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 6 onions , chopped (use 4 for garnish)
• ¼ teaspoon shrimp paste (Terasi)
• ½ teaspoon spiced chili paste (Sambal Oelek)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce (Ketjap Manis)
• salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• peanut oil , as required

For Garnish

• 2 large eggs , omelet cut into strips
• 4 chopped onions , fried in hot oil
• 2 lemons or 2 spiced gherkins , sliced
• shrimp crackers , prepare as per directions on packet (optional)

Directions:

1. Serving: Serve the prepared Bahmi Goreng on a large flat dish and garnish with the fried onions, strips of omelet and slices of lemon (I prefer slices of spice gerkins).
2. Also serve with deep fried prawn crackers (optional) and a small jug of ketjap manis.
3. In a wok using a little moderately hot peanut oil, fry two of the onions and garlic.
4. When the onions become transparent, add the following: ginger, black pepper, cauliflower and celery.
5. Stir-fry until vegetables are half-cooked.
6. Now add the following: cabbage, leeks, bean sprouts, pork, ketjap manis, shrimp paste& salt.
7. In a large pot of boiling water on high heat, immerse the egg noodles.
8. Separate them with a fork as soon as they hit the water and boil for 3-4 minutes.
9. NO LONGER as they will cook further when mixed with the vegetables.
10. When the noodles are cooked, pour them into a colander and rinse with cold water.
11. To prevent the noodles from becoming a solid mass, separate them again as you rinse.
12. On a low heat, mix the noodles with the cooked vegetables and add the Sambal Oelek.
13. Using a different pan, fry the remaining onions in hot oil until they are brown and crisp.
14. Make an omelet using the 2 whisked eggs and cut into strips.

Reviews

[Leggy Peggy]

Recently we spent a month in Indonesia -- enjoying the fascinating sights, welcoming people and delicious food. This recipe brought back wonderful memories. It is an authentic-tasting dish and the whole family loved it. We like strong flavours, so added quite a bit of additional sambal oelek and ketjap manis at the table, but otherwise followed the recipe. Thanks so much for sharing your successful experiments here.

[AnIndonesianinWinnipeg]

One of my favourite. In Indonesian it spells "Bakmi". Indonesians love their kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)

[Francine McKenna]

Many years ago while living in Holland a Dutch friend gave me her family recipe for Bahmi Goereng. This became a favourite of everyone who tried it, but it needed a Conimex Bahmi Spice Mix to work. Having been asked to make Bahmi Goereng as a treat, but having no Spice Mix available, in desperation looked up alternative recipes on-line and found this one. It saved the day and fed 20 very happy souls. It is delicious, tastes really authentic, and brought back so many happy memories of Haarlem, and Rijsttafels. I occasionally leave out the cauliflower and use extra leek, but apart from that have changed nothing. What a find.