Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Mee Goreng Mamak is an extremely popular hawker centre comfort food in Singapore and Malaysia. I remember many a night out with friends that ended up at our favourite late night (was it all night?) outdoor food centre that served a gamut of dishes, ranging from Mee Goreng Mamak to Hainanese Chicken Rice to Satay. You name it, they had it!
The word mamak is a colloquial term for the Tamil Muslim stall owners which is derived from the Tamil term for uncle, “mama”. In Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, as kids, we are encouraged to refer to adults as auntie or uncle, whether we knew them or not, as a sign of respect.
So these noodles are made and sold at stalls run by South Indian Muslims. What distinguishes them from the local Chinese and Malay noodles, besides the spices used, is the addition of potatoes and tomato ketchup. This results in a slightly heavier and tangier noodle dish.
Making Mee Goreng Mamak at Home
The Filling
When made at home, Mee Goreng Mamak usually consists of leftovers from the day before, whatever’s at hand, whether it’s meat, seafood or vegetables.
Flexibility in terms of the “filling” used is a huge plus when you’re making any kind of noodle dish. Use whatever vegetables or meat you have at hand and usually a handful per diner is a perfect gauge of how much you need. You can use chicken, beef, pork, any seafood, or keep it vegetarian.
The more filling ingredients you use, the bigger the serving portions.
A small amount of curry powder is also sometimes used although I usually don’t bother.
Chilli paste in Mee Goreng Mamak
Chilli pastes are a very common ingredient in Asian cooking. You can use any generic shop bought version or substitute it with 2-3 sliced fresh red chillies. Or make your own and store in the freezer. Here’s the recipe that I always use for much of my stir fries: Homemade Chilli Paste recipe:
Toppings and Garnishes
Noodle Dishes of whatever origin, are always served with a variety of garnishes. It can be as simple as some chilli paste or cut chillies on the side, or as elaborate as fried eggs, pickles, etc.
Mee Goreng Mamak is typically served with some lime wedges, cucumber and tomato ketchup, as you can see in the image. I’ve also got some homemade sambal ( a thick chilli sauce), as well as some cut chillies in dark soy sauce, a very common when dip in South East Asia.
Incidentally, the frothy drink in the top left hand corner, is Teh Tarik, a milky tea, also from Indian Muslim stall owners. You can read more about it, and learn how to make it, here:
If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! Thank you!
And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood
Lin xx
More Singaporean and Malaysian Recipes on LinsFood
And if you fancy anymore Singaporean and Malaysian dishes, head on over to the Singapore and Malaysia page for recipes like:
Mee Goreng Mamak (Indian Fried Noodles)
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh yellow noodles
- 2 handfuls beansprouts
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp chilli paste or 2 red chillies sliced
- 1 medium tomato quartered
- 200 g minced beef/shredded chicken/prawns
- 1-2 handfuls of tofu cubed (optional)
- 1 small potato boiled, then cubed
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
To serve
- a handful of chopped spring onions scallions
- a handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves cilantro
- juice of 1 lime
- tiny slices of cucumber
- tomato ketchup as needed
Instructions
- Mix the soy sauces and ketchup and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large wok and sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add whatever meat you’re using and cook, only a minute if it’s seafood, otherwise, for about 5 minutes.
- Add the bean sprouts and chilli paste and stir to mix.
- Push everything to one side, add the eggs and let set for about 30 seconds.
- Add everything else apart from the herbs and lime and mix thoroughly and cook for a couple of minutes until the noodles are done.
- Turn the heat off and add the lime juice and herbs and stir.
- Serve with the cucumbers topped with a squeeze of tomato ketchup.
Hi, how are you? It looks once again very yummy! We bumped into your site and we really liked it. We would like to share this recipe to http://www.sgfood.sg for review. We will link back to you. We are currently looking to video selected recipes to feature on youtube soon. Hope to hear from you! Cheers!
Hi there, thanks for your message. Yo are more than welcome to use this recipe and link back. Have you taken a look at Singaporean and Malaysian page here? It’s got many more recipes, including some traditional Eurasian dishes that many people haven’t heard of: https://linsfood.com/singaporean-malaysianfood/
Cool, definitely going to make this one soon. I can get the fresh noodles easily from my Chinese guy. Can’t wait! Thank you Azlin!
Excellent, let me know how it goes!
I love Mee Goreng and it looks so delicious and will try following the recipe
Thank you Ann! Sorry I’m a bit late replying, this comment seems to have escaped my notice. Let me know if you do try it, I’d love to find out how it goes. x
I am starving looking at all of these gorgeous dishes. This is something my whole family would LOVE!!!
Sweet, spicy, tangy. I’m drooling.
Oh yes – I could definitely eat that entire plate of food by myself! It looks delicious and I love those flavors! How I wish I lived somewhere that had street vendors. Thanks for sharing this!
My kind of noodle dish! Sweet, tangy and spicy!
Nazneen
these noodles sound so delicious and flavorful, i really wish i had this in front of me for dinner!
Damn, if I am not craving a huge bite of this 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru