Bami Goreng

Bami goreng, also known as mie goreng or bakmi goreng is a traditional Southeastern Asian dish. Basically, bami goreng is a spicy fied noodle meal. You can easily find it on the menu if you travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and other Southeastern Asian countries.

It's a rich Asian street food style dish, which is often fried with some meat such as chicken or beef. Actually, it reminds me a little bit of a crispy chilli beef recipe. In contrast to the crispy chilli recipe, yellow egg noodles are fried in cooking oil. So bami goreng isn't served with rice. Just think of a bami goreng as a spicy stir-fry with noodles. Generally speaking, it is a one pot recipe and no side dishes are required. 

You can easily whip up a bami goreng recipe in a matter of minutes. Therefore, it's a perfect recipe for a quick lunch or lazy dinner. In addition, it stores quite well and can last you for some days in the fridge. Enjoy exploring the flavours of Southeastern Asia!

bami goreng recipe with chicken

This bami goreng is not a vegetarian recipe, although it can easily be manipulated into one. My bami goreng recipe calls for the addition of chicken breasts and oyster sauce. Now, prior to you cooking the chicken, I highly recommend you making brined chicken breasts. 

Brining chicken helps to retain the moisture of the chicken and keeps the chicken juicy. I believe we've all had our fair share of dry and stringy chicken breasts. If you brine them beforehand, they are less likely to dry out when they are exposed to the heat. So, discover how to brine chicken with my ultimate guide to brining chicken. 

Feel free to use other parts of the chicken like boneless thighs. They taste equally delicious!

origins

Today, bami goreng is more associated to Indonesian cuisine. Believe it or not, actually this dish originated in China and was influenced by the traditional Chinese dish,  Chow Mein. The latter only arrived in Indonesia thanks to Chinese immigrants. Soon local versions of the dish started appearing in parts of Indonesia.

So, now that you know that bami goreng is originally a Chinese dish, you are probably wondering how the Indonesians adapted it. It's simple. They've tweaked it in their own way to also cater for the large Muslim community living in Indonesia. Hence, there are different versions which use chicken, shrimp or beef, instead of pork or lard. Moreover, the following ingredients were added to make bami goreng truly unique:

• a sweeter soy sauce, called kecap manis
• fried shallots
• spicy sambal oelek paste

Today, you can find bami goreng in high-end restaurants as well as being served on carts in the street. Whether it be in Indonesia, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, you name it. 

Funnily enough, this is one of Netherlands' national dishes because a few centuries ago the Dutch colonised Indonesia!

bami goreng types

You don't have to limit yourself with chicken when it comes to bami goreng. There are many varieties out there, but the following variations are available in Indonesia:

• bihun goreng - version with rice instead of noodles
• kwetiau goreng - with thick flat noodles
• mie goreng ayam - chicken, shallots and leek with sweet soy suace
• goreng sapi - same as ayam but with beef
• mie goreng kambing - calls for goat or mutton
• mie goreng udang - with shrimp
• goreng aceh - with very thick noodles
• goreng jawa - with sweet soy sauce, noodles and egg
• mie goreng tek-tek - non-specific street food version 
• mie goreng dhog-shog or Surabaya - another street food version

In Malaysia, you may find:

• mee goreng mamak - calls for tomato sauce, potatoes, curry spices and sweet soy suce
• maggi goreng - simply uses Maggi instant noodles

In Singapore, you may also come across:

• Pungol mie goreng - with yellow noodles, prawns and stir-fried rempah

Do you know of other types? Please let me know in the comments below!

nasi goreng

Nasi goreng is a similar version but instead of fried noodles fried rice is used. This is also a typical Indonesian rice dish. You can easily convert this bami goreng into nasi goreng. Just stir-fry the rice into the existing recipe, and leave the noodles out.

bami goreng in UK

If you're lucky, you might find bami goreng in the UK by going to a Chinese restaurant. You stand a better chance of finding it on the menu of an Indonesian restaurant. Fortunately, this recipe has been tweaked so that readers from UK and other English-speaking countries can prepare it at home! 

vegetarian bami goreng recipe

To make this bami goreng recipe vegetarian-friendly, remove the chicken. Without a doubt, the dish will remain just as tasty. Just increase the quantities of broccoli and other vegetables. Here are some other vegetables you can use:

• Chinese cabbage
• red or white cabbage
• tomatoes
• snap peas
• baby corn
• green or red bell pepper
• bean sprouts
• mushrooms
• bamboo 

However, if you want more protein in your meal, then use tofu. Also, smoked tofu works well and will add a nice intensity to the dish. 

low-carb bami goreng

Next, to make this a low-carb meal, take out the egg noodle and go heavy on the green vegetables, especially broccoli. You can also substitute the egg noodles with zoodles, i.e. courgette noodles!

More importantly, go easy on the oyster sauce. If you've got too many leftover vegetables, then you can use them for these follow Asian vegetarian recipes. For instance:

• Chinese mixed vegetable stir fry   
• tofu in black bean sauce
• vegan chop suey 
• salt and chilli chips

toppings

Finally, consider topping the dish with these:

• spring onions
• bean sprouts
• lime or lemon juice
•  coriander or these coriander substitutes
• fresh lemongrass
• peanuts or cashews
• sesame seeds or sesame oil

How would you prepare your ultimate bami goreng recipe? Would you stick to this recipe or would you go for a variation you've discovered here? Let me know in the comments section below.

Print

📖 Recipe