Mie Goreng (or Mee Goreng) is an Indonesian noodle dish that’s also found in Malaysia and other parts of South East Asia. With a sticky, savoury sweet sauce, noodles are tossed with chicken, prawns, vegetables and signature egg ribbons. A street food favourite!
Mie Goreng (or Mee Goreng)
I’m a sucker for good noodles. It’s one of the greatest joys of travelling around Asian – noodles galore! (And often dirt cheap, at that)
This one originates from Indonesia – called Mie Goreng or Mee Goreng. It’s also pretty common in Malaysia though you’ll find the Malaysian version often has a hint of curry powder added.
The unique thing about Mie Goreng is the sweet sticky sauce, and that there’s a good variety of “stuff” in the noodles. Though there’s no exact rules about what goes in it, the combination I’ve used in this recipe is pretty common – chicken, prawns, cabbage, bean sprouts, green onion and the signature “egg ribbons” which is simply a thin egg omelette rolled up and sliced into strips (it seriously takes less than 2 minutes to make).
What goes in Mie Goreng
Here’s what you need to make Mie Goreng. Feel free to switch around the protein and vegetables – just follow the quantities in the recipe so you don’t dilute the flavour!
Kecap Manis – sweet dark soy sauce
The key ingredient in the signature sticky noodle sauce is Kecap Manis which is a syrupy sweet soy sauce that adds both flavour and sweetness into the sauce as well as thickening it.
Nowadays you’ll find it in the Asian section of large supermarkets in Australia, such as Woolworths and Coles.
Noodles for Mie Goreng
In both Indonesia and Malaysia, Mie Goreng is made with all sorts of noodles. Thick, thin, crinkly, smooth.
What might surprise you though is that Mie Goreng is actually commonly made by street vendors using instant noodles! Literally, the noodles you get in ramen and other instant noodles packets (just toss the seasoning packet).
I like using instant noodles for Mie Goreng because you get that signature crinkly look just like you get from street food vendors!
How to make Mie Goreng
This is made like any stir fried noodles, with the addition of an extra step to make egg ribbons first. Just simply make a thin egg omelette, roll it up and slice.
Then we toss this back into the dish right at the very end.
You’ll notice that the sauce is quite thick and sticky, so once you start tossing the noodles, the sauce will reduce quite quickly.
This is what we want to happen! The sauce sort of caramelises on the noodles which adds extra flavour – trust me, you will know when the noodles are ready to come off the stove.
What to serve with Mie Goreng
There’s a decent amount of vegetables in this, so I think it’s ok to serve as a meal without a side of vegetables. But if you do want to add something to the menu, try one of these – they are refreshing sides so will be a nice contrast to the strong flavour in this noodle dish.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 people which I know is an odd number. But it’s one of those dishes that’s hard to make in big batches because you need to toss enthusiastically to mix everything up and get things browning and caramelising
So even with a large wok or skillet, there’s only so much you can make in one go.
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mie Goreng (Mee Goreng)
Ingredients
Noodles – use ONE (Note 1):
- 3 instant noodle cakes (I use this)
- 250g/8oz fresh egg noodles , thin to medium
- 150g / 5oz dried egg noodles , thin to medium
Sauce:
- 2 tbsp kecap manis (or dark sweet soy sauce) (Note 2)
- 2 tsp light soy sauce (or normal soy, Note 3)
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce , or more light soy sauce (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 4)
- 2 tbsp ketchup (yes really!)
- 1 tsp sambal oelak, chilli paste or Sriracha (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
Stir Fried Noodles:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 eggs , lightly whisked
- 3 garlic cloves , finely chopped
- 120g/4oz chicken breast or thigh , sliced thinly into small bite size pieces
- 100g/3.5oz prawns/shrimp , raw, peeled and deveined (smaller are better)
- 2 cups cabbage , finely sliced (any green or white cabbage)
- 1 cup beansprouts
- 3 green onions , cut into 5cm/2″ lengths (green and white part)
Instructions
- Mix the Sauce in a bowl.
- Prepare noodles per packet directions just before cooking.
Egg Ribbons:
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in egg, swirl to coat base. Cook 1 minute until mostly set, then flip (do your best!).
- Slide onto cutting board, roll up into loose “wrap”. Slice into 1cm/ 1/3″ thick pieces – you now have egg ribbons!
Cooking:
- Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil in same skillet over HIGH heat.
- Add garlic and chicken, cook until half surface turns white.
- Add prawns and cook for 1 minute until chicken is mostly cooked.
- Add cabbage and bean sprouts, toss for 1 minute until a bit wilted.
- Add noodles, green onions and Sauce, toss for 1 – 2 minutes until Sauce reduces and noodles caramelise a bit.
- Toss through egg ribbons and serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Your Noodle Life
Life of Dozer
My lovely new neighbours left some fresh bread by my front door – and Dozer was quick to check it out, thinking it was for HIM!!!
Paws off Dozer, that’s for ME!
When I visited Malaysia in 2018 I ate a lot of different versions of mee goreng all delicious..I will make your recipe💕
Dozer is definetly related to Luca ..Luca figures if it’s on the ground then it’s HIS😄🐕
Love to know what you think once you try it Gillian! N x
I’ve never seen any type of Sweet, Dark soy sauce here in California. What would be a good sub? I do have Hoisen sauce. Would that work? It’s dark, sweet and thick. These look soooo good especially with the added ingredients of shrimp, chicken and the veggies. My favorites!!! Thanks Nagi! I need to get some Cabbage, shrimp and noodles tomorrow for this!!
Hi Jana, this is the signature ingredient here – you may it known as Kecap Manis ❤️
Nope, never heard of it and there are no Asian markets anywhere near me.
You can get it on Amazon or try Ranch 99 Markets if you have one near.
No ranch markets around here and there are too many nasty chemicals in the ones on amazon. I am going to make my own via the website Cheryl foster pointed me to, I don’t eat chemically laden food if at all possible.
Tomorrow my best friend is bringing me some star anise as the recipe calls for it. Should be fun to make!! Then I can make these noodles. I have all the other ingredients now. I can’t wait!!
I have the same problem. They don’t sell this or dark soy where I live.
I’m in Australia so can i use tomato sauce instead of ketchup?
Hi,
You can make your own Kecap Manis. It’s just cooking down dark soy sauce with coconut sugar. Google the recipe. You will definitely find it. It’s really really easy to make.
I did make the kecap sauce. It tastes pretty good. I made the noodles. It was a lot of work but they were good. The cabbage and beans sprouts made a lot of liquid, which I had to pour off. But then I tossed the mood with the sauce and chowed down.
https://www.daringgourmet.com/homemade-kecap-manis-indonesian-sweet-soy-sauce/
i was able to get it on amazon
I don’t know how to pronounce this correctly but I love it! This is one of those dishes I drive 2 hours to Seattle for. I just got a brand new wok and this will make a great christening for it!
I hope you give it a go and love it Dahn – keep me updated!! N x