Sweet and Spicy Lamb Mee Goreng (Indian-style Fried Noodles)

One of the most common street vendor foods in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore is “mee goreng” which translates to fried noodles in Malay. There are many variations and styles by region and province including the one from Penang, Malaysia, which is the tropical island I was born.

The Penang version that’s popular locally and abroad is the “mamak” version which was preferred by the South Tamil Muslim community who were immigrants from South Indian who arrived in Malaysia and who operated many of the mamak stalls of Malaysia. This version has a tomato sauce, curry spices, and sweet soy sauce.

When I was a young lad, I would stop at the mamak stall outside my parent’s home in Penang to order my mee goreng after school. It was only 25 cents then and the steamy spicy noodles seemed to make life in the tropical humid heat more bearable.

I befriended the owner and called him Pachik which is loosely translated to “uncle”. I would often ask him what his secret ingredient was as his noodles tasted much better than his competitors. This was our running joke and he said no one knew his secret except him. I would ask him and he would always tease me by saying, “maybe someday I’ll tell you.”

When I bade farewell to him, I was leaving my hometown to become a pilot for Singapore Airlines. I asked him again when I ordered my last plate of mee goreng from him. He smiled and said two words, “potato curry.”

I hope you enjoy this incredibly delicious treat which only takes a few minutes to make once you get some of the prep out of the way. These noodles are special to me and they have many layers of flavor.

I never saw Pachik again. When I went back home to visit my parents last year, he was no longer there and the neighborhood had changed much over the 40 plus years since I left. So I decided to use my championship barbecue rub to make some mee goring in honor of Pachik.

Total Time: 36 mins
Yield: 5 1x

Instructions

Spicy Potato Curry Recipe – (can be made ahead and frozen for future use)
Heat 3 tablespoon oil and fry 2 tablespoons curry powder plus 1 tablespoon chili powder for 3 minutes. Add ½ cup of coconut milk and simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cayenne or hot sauce to taste. Add 1 cup of cooked mashed potatoes. You can make your own or you can cheat by using store bought. Add water as needed and simmer until you get a reddish potato sauce with the consistency of gravy. Add a bit of brown sugar and ketchup to round out the flavors. Adjust the sweetness and spiciness to your taste. I like mine very spicy and quite sweet.
I like to fry my noodles in small batches. For 2 lbs of noodles, I would cook in 4 small batches. They taste better that way. So portion your ingredients accordingly if you want to cook it my way.
Heat a wok over very high heat. Sauté garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic
Add some beef and stir fry until just browned.
Add the tofu, potatoes, and tomatoes. Stir fry a couple of minutes.
Add the noodles and spicy potato curry and cook until noodles are softened, about 3 minutes. You want to add enough potato curry to coat the noodles but not so much as to make it saucy
Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, kecap manis, ketchup, SYD rub, sugar, and curry powder, mixing thoroughly
Push noodles to one side of your wok and crack three eggs on the open side. Mix the eggs so they scramble. Season eggs with some soy sauce. Move the noodles over the eggs so the heat cooks the top side of the eggs. Mix or toss to disperse the egg into the noodles. Add the red chilies and fold into the noodles so they soften in the heat
Serve with lime wedge, green shredded lettuce, fried shallots and green onions