Nearly every student has (or should have had!) a point when they discover those cardboard tasting ‘just add water’ 39p noodle packs, and the slightly more expensive noodle soups. Every Chinese supermarket in England is full of the things, and their popularity is only surpassed by the variety of brands and flavours on offer. If you talk to people who eat a lot of instant noodles, they will tell you Indomie’s Mie Goreng range are the very best brand and probably the only ones really worth buying, but very few English people will have tried the real thing.

I first tried proper Mie Goreng from a small food stall at Reading Festival last summer, it was amazing! Blew every Chow Mein I have ever tried before straight out of the water. The small stall ‘Goreng Goreng’ (Fried Fried) was one of the two places best places to eat at the festival. The other being the tent set up by the Jamaican security teams cooks in the staff camping area, where I was having large portions of Curried Goat (one of my very favorite meals), Jerk Chicken and other Caribbean specialties. I went to both daily and was very happy.

However, Reading festival lasts a weekend and after that I was left with no means to get a Mie Goreng fix, oh no! What do you do in this situation? Well I forgot about them for about 4 months, and then developed cravings, so Internet research combined with my memory has lead to the development of this recipe. It can be used as a way to get rid of leftover foods (like Chow Mein), so adapt the recipe to what you have in your cupboards, and what is going off soon. Most soft vegetables will work just fine if added during stage 4.

Having this as a meal with Chicken Satay and Peanut Sauce on the side is a traditional and very tasty Indonesian snack.

Recipe: Feeds one, or two if combined with Chicken Satay and Peanut Sauce

2 Eggs // 2 Nests Medium Egg Noodles // 2 Tablespoons Sriracha Chili Sauce // 1 Tablespoon soy sauce // 2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce // 1 Tablespoons Tamarind Paste // 1 Teaspoon Sugar // 1/2 Teaspoon salt // 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped finely // 2 Shallots, chopped into chunks // 2 Tablespoons Sesame or Peanut oil

Optional:

A handful of King Prawns, peeled and deveined // Half a Chicken Breast, chopped into 3 cm cubes // Tofu cubes, roughly equal to the Chicken // Chopped Spring Onion

Cook the Noodles according to their instructions. Heat half a tablespoon Oil in the wok or a large pan on its highest heat. While it is heating, crack the Eggs and whisk them lightly. When the oil starts to shimmer, pour the Eggs in and stir fry 1-3 minutes, till dryish and broken into small pieces, put to one side. Mix the Sauces, Wine and Tamarind Paste with the Sugar and Salt. Heat the rest of the Oil till shimmering, thrown in the Onion and Garlic. Break up the Onion layers with the spatula, stir fry 1 minutes, add the Chicken / Prawns / Tofu now (if using them), stir fry 2 minutes, until opaque. Add in the Sauce mix, stir quickly, then the Noodles, and then egg. Stir fry (constantly stir!) 5 minutes so crispy but with no burning. Garnish with Spring Onion and Peanut Sauce (my recipe here).

Enjoy!