Bami Goreng (Indo-Dutch Fried Noodles)
Bami goreng
The fried egg noodles that came home from the Indies, wok-tossed with a spiced bumbu, ketjap manis, chicken and cabbage, and served across the Dutch table beside nasi.
IBread & the Broodmaaltijd- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Intermediate
No Indo-Dutch table is complete without a mound of bami goreng next to the nasi, and for many Dutch families the two are inseparable: one of rice, one of noodles, both glossed dark with ketjap. Like its rice cousin, bami came to the Netherlands from the Dutch East Indies, today's Indonesia, carried by returning colonial families and, after 1949, by the Indo community who settled in Dutch towns and opened the toko shops and Chinees-Indisch restaurants that made these flavours everyday.
An Indonesian dish, at home in Holland
It should be said plainly: bami goreng is Indonesian in origin, with a Chinese noodle heritage layered underneath. The wheat-and-egg noodle itself came to the archipelago with Chinese cooks and traders. What the Netherlands did was adopt it wholesale. Today a tub of ready-made bami sits in every Dutch supermarket, and the dish anchors countless weeknight dinners far from where it was born. Cooking it well, and naming its roots, is the honest way to keep it.
The technique that matters
The soul is the bumbu, the pounded paste of shallot, garlic, chilli and toasted trassi. Fry it until the raw edge burns off and the kitchen fills with its scent. This is not a step to rush. After that, everything is speed and heat: a screaming wok, vegetables kept crisp, and a hard final toss so the noodles catch colour and every strand takes on the lacquer of the ketjap manis.
Nasi and bami, side by side: the two dishes that taught the Netherlands to love the wok.
Serve it the Dutch-Indo way: heaped in a bowl, showered with crisp fried shallots, a handful of kroepoek leaning against the rim, and a spoon of sambal for those who want the heat.
“Keep the wok fierce and your hands quick. Bami wants a fast, hot toss so the noodles catch a little colour without turning soft.”
Ingredients
Serves 4
The bumbu (spice paste)
- 3shallots
- 3garlic cloves
- 2red chillies, or 1 tbsp sambal oelek
- 1 tsptrassi (shrimp paste), toasted
- 1 tspground coriander
The noodles
- 300 gfresh egg noodles, or 250 g dried, cooked
- 2chicken thighs, sliced thin
- 150 gwhite cabbage, shredded
- 2carrots, julienned
- 100 gbeansprouts
- 3 tbspketjap manis, sweet soy
- 1 tbsplight soy sauce
- 3 tbspneutral oil
To finish
- 2spring onions, sliced
- to servefried shallots
- to servekroepoek (prawn crackers)
Method
- 1
Pound the bumbu
Blend or pound the shallots, garlic, chillies, toasted trassi and coriander to a rough paste. This is the flavour engine of the dish. The toasted shrimp paste gives the deep savoury backbone that separates real bami from a plain noodle stir-fry.
- 2
Ready the noodles
If using dried noodles, boil until just tender, drain, and toss with a little oil so they don't clump. Fresh noodles need only a brief loosening in hot water. Have everything cut and within reach. The wok moves fast.
- 3
Sear the chicken
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat and cook the sliced chicken until golden and cooked through. Lift it out and set aside so it doesn't steam the vegetables that follow.
- 4
Fry the paste and vegetables
Add the rest of the oil and fry the bumbu for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Add the cabbage and carrots and toss over high heat until barely wilted but still crisp, then throw in the beansprouts for the last moment.
- 5
Toss it together
Return the chicken, add the drained noodles, and pour over the ketjap manis and soy. Toss hard so every strand is coated and glossy. Fold through the spring onions and serve piled high with fried shallots and kroepoek.
Building the bread meal
The Dutch lunch is a spread, not a dish — bread and a parade of toppings.
- Jonge & belegen kaas, young and aged Gouda, sliced thin
- Hagelslag, chocolate sprinkles for the sweet slice
- Boiled egg & ham, the savoury half of the board
- Karnemelk, a glass of cold buttermilk
Questions from the kitchen
What is the difference between bami and nasi goreng?+
Bami goreng is fried egg noodles. Nasi goreng is fried rice. They share the same bumbu and ketjap treatment, and many Dutch tables serve both side by side as part of one meal.
Can I make it vegetarian?+
Yes. Drop the chicken, leave out the trassi or swap in a little fermented bean paste, and lean on extra vegetables and tofu. The ketjap manis carries most of the flavour.
Which noodles should I use?+
Fresh Chinese-style egg noodles are ideal. Dried mie or even instant noodle cakes (without the seasoning sachet) work well when boiled just to tender.
Paint the rest of the meal
BreadThe Indies at Home
Foe Yong Hai (Dutch-Chinese Omelette in Sweet-Sour Sauce)
Foe yong hai
A thick, puffed omelette with prawns and spring onion under a glossy red tomato sauce with peas, made the way a Dutch Chinese takeaway serves it.
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Mihoen Goreng (Fried Rice Vermicelli)
Mihoen goreng
Thin rice vermicelli wok-fried with chicken, prawns, cabbage and a splash of ketjap: the lighter sibling of bami goreng on every Chinees-Indisch menu.
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Nasi Rames (Rice with a Plate of Side Dishes)
Nasi rames
White rice ringed with small sides: rendang, sambal goreng boontjes, atjar, serundeng and an egg in chilli sauce. The rijsttafel on one plate, takeaway style.