Journey to taste the world

Passport & Plate - Leafy Green Mee Goreng (Leafy Green Fried Noodle)

Indonesia | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
The Noodle
150 gr High Protein Wheat Flour
25 gr Tapioca Starch
1 tsp. salt
70 gr Chinese cabbage (the leaves only)
for boiling the noodle:
2 L water
2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. limestone solution
Iced water

Chicken with Herbs
Half of chicken breast (chopped to small cubes)
150 gr mushroom (chopped similar size with the chicken)
quarter of medium onion (finely chopped)
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbsp. teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp. sweet soy sauce
2 tbsp. coconut oil
dash of lemon juice
sprinkle of dried rosemary
sprinkle of dried basil
salt & pepper to taste

The Mee Goreng
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
Shredded carrot
2 tbsp. oil
Chili flakes (if desired)


How to prepare this recipe
I. Mix all dry ingredients (flour, starch, and salt) in a big bowl.
Put the leaves in electric grinder.
Add water to make the grinder run smoothly, about 2 tablespoons.
Make a well in the bowl, pour the “green smoothie” to the center.
Gradually pulling in flour from the bottom and sides of the bowl to the center, mix all by hand gently to make a firm dough.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic in a clean counter. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking out.
Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and let it rest for a half to 1 hour.

II. Marinate the chicken with teriyaki sauce, lemon juice, basil and rosemary for half an hour.
Heat the oil in a big skillet on medium heat, put the onion and stir until transparent. Then add the garlic and stir until softens.
Put the marinated chicken to the skillet.
When the chicken is half-cooked, add the mushroom and sweet soy sauce. Then turn the heat to simmer and cover the skillet, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn of the heat after all are well cooked and all water drained.

III. Divide the dough into four equal balls.
Process a ball in the pasta maker, and keep the rest covered. Flatten the ball into a disk and feed it through thickest roller first (marked as “1”). Fold the piece and roll it again. Repeat this step for 3 or 4 times until smooth.
Change the settings on the roller to roll the dough thinner. Roll it 3 or 4 times at each setting, don't skip. Roll the piece as thin as needed. For this recipe, I go to 5.
Switch the roller to the cutter and run the sheet through the narrow one.
Toss the noodles with a little flour to keep them from sticking and put them into a floured baking sheet.
Repeat all the process until all balls cut into noodle.

IV. Bring a large pot of water (with the limestone solution and oil added) to a boil with medium heat and put the noodle in. Stir gently to keep the noodle separated from each other.
Once the noodle has floated on the top, put it on a strainer and pour the iced water.

V. Heat the oil on a skillet and stir the garlic until tender.
Add the shredded carrot, stir-fry. If you like it to be softer, add a little bit of water.
Add the noodle and the chicken then toss. Salt and pepper can be added if desired.
Sprinkle with chili flakes.

The story behind this recipe
Surprisingly, even though wheat can’t be grown commercially in Indonesia, noodle became one of staple food here. I usually chosen after rice or could be the substitute. Noodle is easy to find around this archipelago, especially in big cities, cooked in many different cooking style and offered from hawkers to fancy restaurants.

Mee Goreng (Fried Noodle) is one of my favorite noodle dishes. I used to eat it as breakfast during my childhood. Since I chose a healthier diet, I rather take it for my lunch instead. But still it commonly consumed by people for their breakfast.

Sometimes, I want a different taste of Mee Goreng that offered in my favorite restaurant or hawkers or the way my mother always make. Thank God that Mee Goreng is so easy to cook. You just need to stir fry the seasoning and toss the noodle, as easy as making Aglio Olio Pasta. You can choose any additional ingredients to meet your appetite, shrimp, chicken, minced beef, vegetables and many more. It can be make with anything in your fridge, even only with scrambled eggs.

After sometime, I started to make my own noodle from scratch, so I can be sure that no preservative added. Moreover, I try to combine my mother recipe with Italian Aglio Olio. It can be said that this Leafy Green Mee Goreng is a melting pot of east meet west dish.

Usually, Mee Goreng will never be apart from sweet soy sauce, that’s the main seasoning after all. But since I make the green one, the sauce will cover up the wonderful color. So I put the soy sauce in the topping (Chicken with Herbs).

Oh, not forget to thank you for the little hands helping me out to make this recipe.

Hope you can enjoy this mix.