Mee Goreng

Greg so happy there is so much noodles

Couple of weeks ago, our church had a fundraiser and the event was called "International Noodles Night". I was asked to make baked mostachioli for the Italians to eat which I thought was ridiculous. The Italians should do their part to cook true authentic Italian food for the occassion. I know its easy to cook but hey.. for a $30/person function.. you should come up with something more original than Prego sauce... Thank Goodness someone managed to get some Italian restaurant to donate 2 trays. Me like an idiot volunteered to cook "mee goreng". Yes our Malaysian mee goreng which I've only attempted once. Yes it was easy cooking the first time... so I thought I could do it for 200 people. hahahaha...

Ok.. now how much of noodles do I need.. the original recipe which I got from a blogger... only used like 150g of yellow noodles.. which means... I needed to triple the recipe just for a 1 lb of noodle... Some "know-it-all" from my church told me to cook 10lbs per tray.. and excuse me.. I needed to cook 2 trays.. so that means 20lbs in total... that's crazy... I didn't trust that advice. I managed to ask this Indonesian lady who happens to cater on the side.. she told me to use only 5 lbs each tray. Without hesitation she told me "mee goreng? just 5 lbs" and that I do trust as she does know what type of yellow noodles we use for our mee goreng.

I had 2 lovely ladies who came over to my house to help me with the cutting and washing up... and I do appreciate their help as it was a lot of help. Thanks Gemma and Theresa. Both of you made food preparation and cooking a happier and livelier task.

How did the noodles turn out??? It was delicious and spicy enough, I had to cook them 2lbs at a time so the first batch was too spicy for the locals. I had to refrain from using too much chili sauce but it was enough to sting some tongues. I ate some of it during the event but wished I could have more. Oh well... I'll just have to cook it again.

If some of you are interested, I got the Mee Goreng Mamak recipe from http://malaysiandelicacies.blogspot.com

Mee Goreng Recipe:

Ingredients
150 gm Noodle
1/2 cup boneless Chicken Meat
some Prawns and Fish balls
some tau kua (fried firm tofu)
1 Egg(beaten)
1/2 cup Beansprouts
150 gm Mustard greens-cut into 2-1/2 cm
2 clove Garlic-chopped
3 Shallots - sliced thinly
1-2 tbsp Chilli Paste (soaked dried chili that is blended)

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Chilli Sauce
1/2 tbsp Tomato Sauce
1-2 tbsp thick Soya Sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
Salt and Sugar

Garnishing:
Shredded Cucumber
Chopped Spring
Onions Shallots crisps

Method:
1. Heat wok with 3-4 tbsp oil until hot and fry garlic until light brown.
2. Add shallots and chilli paste and fry further.
3. Mix in chicken meat, prawns and fish balls and stir fry.
4. Add in the noodle and all the sauces.
5. Add seasoning and sprinkle with a little water
6. Mix in all the fried ingredients together.
7. Spread all the ingredients around the wok.
8. Create an empty space in the center.
9. Add in the beaten egg into it and a bit more oil.Leave for about a minutes.
10. Then cover the egg with the ingredients and stir-fry evenly.
11. Finally add in mustard leaves and beansprouts
12. Stir another 3-4 minutes.
13. Remove the dish to a plate and garnish it.

*Note: I didn't use bean sprouts this round as the noodles were cooked 6 hours before the party and bean sprouts do get soggy after sometime.

I managed to buy good yellow noodles from a noodle maker in Chicago Chinatown.. if anyone that is in town and needs to get them, let me know and I'll point you to the grocery store. I love that noodle maker's noodle as it doesn't get mushy/soggy when cooked with sauce or soup.