Mee Goreng (Southeast Asian Fried Noodles)

By Natalie Pattillo

Mee Goreng (Southeast Asian Fried Noodles)
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(150)
Notes
Read community notes

Mee goreng is a popular fried noodle dish found in hawker centers throughout Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. If you're seeking a noodle dish that's salty, spicy, tangy and slightly sweet, this version will deliver, and is perfect for impressing guests at a dinner party. The sambal tumis is the true star, adding a kick that marries well with the fresh lime juice and soy sauce. It is traditionally made with yellow wheat noodles, but you can find versions that use dried instant noodles instead. You can also substitute chicken or extra vegetables and tofu for the shrimp.

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Ingredients

Yield:6 servings
  • 1pound fresh yellow egg noodles (such as hokkien mee, yakisoba or lo mein)
  • 1½cups sambal tumis (see recipe)
  • 2tablespoons canola oil
  • 1pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
  • 1cup cubed fried tofu puffs or firm tofu in ½ inch chunks
  • 3small bok choy, ends trimmed, chopped
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1½cups fresh bean sprouts
  • 2tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), to taste
  • 2limes, cut into wedges (if available, calamansi are best)
  • Dried shallots or fried onions, to taste
  • Red Serrano or Fresno chiles, thinly sliced, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

503 calories; 12 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 958 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cook noodles according to package instructions.

  2. Step 2

    Heat prepared sambal tumis in a wok or large skillet for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add cooked noodles, tofu or tofu puffs and bok choy and stir to make sure everything is mixed with the sambal. (If the noodles start to stick together, add a splash or two of water until they loosen.)

  3. Step 3

    Heat the canola oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp; season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes, or until pink and opaque. Transfer shrimp and any juices to the sambal mixture in the wok; add the tomato wedges, bean sprouts and a drizzle of sweet soy sauce to taste. Stir for 1 minute over medium heat, and season with salt to taste.

  4. Step 4

    Remove the lemongrass, heap the mee goreng onto a platter and serve immediately, or at room temperature, with lime wedges, sliced red Serrano or Fresno chiles and dried shallots or fried onions.

Ratings

4 out of 5
150 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Tom

1 1/2 cups sambal? Not likely.

stepmoor

Step 4 says to remove lemongrass, but I don’t see it in the list of ingredients. Maybe I’m missing something?

jke

I started with a cup or so of tomato puree, a bit of sugar and fish sauce then added sambal to taste. I used store bought sambal oelek. Let that simmer with plenty of lemon grass. Splash of fish stock if the sauce gets too dry. The tofu puffs added to the sambal base were rubbery so next time I will fry the puffs. Besides the shrimp you can add other cooked meat such as chicken. I used some left over barbecued pork rib meat. With the kecap manis you should have a nice hot chile sweet balance.

me

Agree. Am only online to see if there is a correction. I'm thinking maybe 1 1/2 Tbsp.

NP

It's the sambal tumis recipe (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019421-sambal-tumis) which is very different from the bottles of sambal oelek you would find in stores.

Nat

No, from a Malaysian, I’d say the 1.5 cups for 6 servings is correct

Carol-Ann

I believe the answer is in the recipe for the sambal. There is lemongrass in the making of the the sambal which that recipe mentions must be removed before serving.

Corrine Zinn

The lemongrass is in the recipe of the samba tumis. Hence the directions to remove the lemongrass when plating.

plb

Ah, found it! The lemongrass is in the linked sambal recipe which states that the Lgrass is left in the sambal when stored, but removed from the dish (to which the sambal was added) before serving.

Jody

It's in the Sambal tumis

zozofreshbiggie

If this is too spicy for you, add two cans (or more) of coconut milk.

Michael

Vegan/kosher/non-shellfish option that worked for us was hacho (red) miso paste for funk and salt and depth.

Rick H.

This was excellent. I started with about half of the sambal because it seemed like a lot but added more until it was just a bit less than what was called for, so I think the recipe is about right. The tofu and shrimp combination was good I doubled the amount of bok choy and will add more vegetables next time. Carrots and mushrooms would both be good.

Katy

Is jarred sambal tumis a thing? Google was not helpful.

Nat

No, from a Malaysian, I’d say the 1.5 cups for 6 servings is correct

John

I also question the amount of sambal given in the recipe. Does the linked samba recipe make 1.5 cups of product?

stephanie

yes. you can find the yield at the top of NYT recipes before the headnotes and under the author/cook's name.

Martin

I see this recepie calls for shrimp with the tails intact. I've so often wondered why they're left on. I don't like having to take the rails off as I'm eating (I know, poor me, right?). Why leave them on? If there's a good reason for it, I'd like to know; maybe I'd be satisfied leaving them on.

Corrine Zinn

The lemongrass is in the recipe of the samba tumis. Hence the directions to remove the lemongrass when plating.

plb

Ah, found it! The lemongrass is in the linked sambal recipe which states that the Lgrass is left in the sambal when stored, but removed from the dish (to which the sambal was added) before serving.

stepmoor

Step 4 says to remove lemongrass, but I don’t see it in the list of ingredients. Maybe I’m missing something?

Carol-Ann

I believe the answer is in the recipe for the sambal. There is lemongrass in the making of the the sambal which that recipe mentions must be removed before serving.

Kluski

It's listed in the sambal recipe. I wonder if that is what she is referring to.

Stephanie

The lemongrass is in the samba recipe.

Tom

1 1/2 cups sambal? Not likely.

me

Agree. Am only online to see if there is a correction. I'm thinking maybe 1 1/2 Tbsp.

jke

I started with a cup or so of tomato puree, a bit of sugar and fish sauce then added sambal to taste. I used store bought sambal oelek. Let that simmer with plenty of lemon grass. Splash of fish stock if the sauce gets too dry. The tofu puffs added to the sambal base were rubbery so next time I will fry the puffs. Besides the shrimp you can add other cooked meat such as chicken. I used some left over barbecued pork rib meat. With the kecap manis you should have a nice hot chile sweet balance.

.

The Lemon grass has been simmering in your Sambal Tunis when adding the noodles

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