Oodles of Noodles, Bihun Goreng

By Lu

Bihun Goreng

As a person with Asian descent, it is really not all that shocking that I love noodles. Eating noodle is a big part of Asian culture. Almost every country in Asia has some types of noodles in their diet. Then, I can tell you that I love every single transformation of noodles within those various cultures. From the Phở of Vietnam, Pad Thai of Thailand, Cap Gae of Korea, traditional pulled Chinese noodle, Pancit Bihon of Philippines, Prawn Mee and Char Kway Teow of Malaysia, Udon, Soba, and Ramen of Japan, and lastly all the noodles of Indonesia.

However, we all know that noodles aren't limited to Asian cuisine. Thanks to Marco Polo, the Italian explorer that ventured to China and brought noodles to Italy, we are also blessed with the oodles of pastas of Italy. Geez - Italians expanded the pasta realm into a whole new dimension. There are so many different kinds, with different shapes, thickness, and fancy names. Can anyone tell me what type of pasta is Mafaldine or Orecchiette?

Mafaldine is a ribbon pasta with ruffled edge, and Orecchiette is a pasta that resembles an ear. The list continues. The fancier the Italian restaurant where you dine, the fancier the pasta name gets. You will probably won't find the familiar spaghetti, fettuccine, and lasagna in the menu of a high-end Italian eatery. Pappardelle (my favorite), Buccattini, or fussili will show up though.

Then, it goes to dumplings. Dumplings have the same notoriety as noodles in cultures around the world. From the yummy Spaetzle of Germany, the Bohemian Pierogi, Chinese Potstickers and Wontons, Korean's Kimchi Mandu, Japanese's Gyoza, mhmhmhmhm. These are all expansions of noodles.

What are noodles or pastas? They're basically food pieces with various shapes made from unleavened gluten with water, and sometimes with eggs. At least that is my definition. Then, after a series of processes of mixing, rolling out, and cutting into various shapes, it became something so delicious and fun to eat. The Italians make pasta using durum wheat, semolina, buckwheat, etc. The Asians make noodles from various starches from the regular wheat flour, potato flour, rice flour, and also bean flour. 

I can't say I'm a noodle expert, but I do know a lot from working with it, making it, cooking it, and stuffing my face with it.

Not so long ago, I invited some friends for a noodle dinner at my home. I served the typical Indonesian noodle called "Mie Ayam." I talked about this noodle before in my breakfast post since it is one of the most popular breakfast items back home. When I go home to Jakarta, it is also the first thing I will seek to eat as soon as my plane lands in Indonesian soil. Ri also talked about it on her Wonton post.

Mie Ayam is made using long strand flour noodles, boiled then seasoned with a little bit of oil (chicken infused oil, or my preference - pork fat), salt, pepper, and soy sauce. It is served with chicken topping, wontons or what Indonesian calls "Pangsit" which is dumplings filled with meats, some greens (usually Chinese Yu Choy/Cai Sim), Bean Sprouts (optional), and a side car of chicken broth.

My friends liked my Mie Ayam a lot but I prepared to make a lot of bowls of Mie Ayam. However, they were so full as I also made tons of other food. I was left with 2 packs of uncooked noodles, some wonton filling, and chicken topping. I ate Mie Ayam every day for almost the next two weeks after that dinner. Yes - I froze some of them as I didn't want to waste good food. However, when I finally ran out of chicken topping, I made more. I thought I would get so bored with it. Not even close! I had to gain a lot of weight eating oodles of noodles for two weeks straight. It was so good though. I took a picture to entice my friend, Peggy, of my dinner that night. Food war? Yep. She also made some last week and was in a hurry to eat it because she couldn't contain her craving, and didn't take picture. Tsk tsk tsk.

Other than Mie Ayam, my other favorite Indonesian noodle is Bihun Goreng. When my mom is in town or if I am home, I probably eat Bihun Goreng the most. Bihun is what we call noodles made from rice flour. Some other Asian cultures would refer to it as Mee Hun, or Mai fun. Bihun Goreng means Fried Bihun. In theory, it is really similar to a stir fry noodle. Actually it is not similar, it is stir fried noodle.

I am actually craving it today but too lazy  to cook it. So I am talking about it actually trying to gear myself up to make it. However, maybe I will entice you to make it. With the abundance of stir fry restaurants and make your own stir-fry, I am not going to give you the exact recipe to make Bihun Goreng, because frankly, there is none. But here is a little instruction, and go make it!

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Bihun/Mee Hun
• 3 or 4 eggs, or as you want. If you want more eggs, then add more.
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5 stalks of green onions/scallions, cut about 1 inch in length/2.5 cm
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
• handful of shrimps, skinned and deveined, cut into chunks
• 4 or 5 beef or/and fish balls (optional), cut into chunks or smaller pieces.
• 5 chicken liver (optional), cut into chunks
• any other things you want to add: chinese sausage (lapchong), pork meat, squid strips, etc. Whatever.
• 5 to 6 stalks of Chinese Greens such as Bok Choy or Yu Choy, cut into 1.5 inch/3 cm in length with stalks, or as you much as you please.
• A couple of handfuls of bean sprouts
• Oil, Chicken Broth, Cooking Wine, Sweet Soy Sauce, and Soy Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Salt and Pepper as needed.

Methods:

1. Put the dry rice noodle in a heat-resistant bowl, and pour boiling or really hot water onto the bowl. Let bihun sits in hot water until it softens.
2. Heat up oil in a wok. Mix eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and beat slightly. Add eggs to hot wok, and make scrambled eggs. Set aside.
3. Re-heat oil in a wok. Sweat garlic until it is aromatic, then add the cut-up protein ingredients (chicken breast, shrimps, beef balls, etc). Season with salt and pepper as needed. Glaze with chinese cooking wine. Add a couple dash until meats sizzle. Then pour a dash of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sweet soy sauce for flavor and color. Once cooked, set aside.
4. De-glaze pan with chinese cooking wine and scrape all the browning bits from bottom of wok from the meats cooked previously. Add bihun.
5. Crank heat to high, and add a couple of ladles of chicken broth so that bihun will be cooked further and absorb all the liquid. Bihuns I found in the US are harder, and may need more liquid than the ones in Asia. Don't drown bihun in liquid as it will get too soft. Start with a little bit of liquid just so that the noodles are wet, then if it is still hard, you can add as needed.
6. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce as needed until bihun gets the brown coloring and flavor. I usually cook just with feel. However, if you want ratio, probably 1 or 2 tablespoon of oyster sauce is all you need, then you may have to double or triple that for the soy sauces. Do not add more salt as the soy sauce will be salty already.
7. Stir the seasoning so all the noodles get coated evenly with the sauces. Do not stir like you stir a martini however if you do not want broken pieces of noodles. If you want your noodles intact, use two spatulas, and toss noodles as you toss a salad.
8. Add the cooked meats, eggs, and the veggies (Greens, scallions and sprouts). 
9. Cook thoroughly until the soy sauce raw taste disappeared and you get a fried noodle taste.
10. Serve immediately.

Using two spatulas, toss the noodles

I like to serve it with a little side of pickled cucumbers or achar. All I do to make achar is I cut up some cucumber and add white vinegar to cover the cucumber, and then I sprinkle some sugar. Mix it up and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours before using. You can also be fancy by adding carrot cubes and chili padi or Thai chili. I know some foodies will frown on the white vinegar; however, this traditional Indonesian achar will taste funny if we use foofoo vinegars like the apple cider or red wine. Some stuff is just better kept as KISS, keep it simple stupid.

You really have to use your stir-fry instinct as I really can't tell you that 2 tablespoon of soy sauce will be enough, and 3 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce will be perfect. You have to just go for it, use your instinct, taste, analyze, adjust, taste again! This principle is one thing I learned from culinary school I know to be true. If you want to cook, you need to taste!!!

If you don't know what a sweet soy sauce is, go look on my older post by clicking here where I talked in details about the product on my Father's Day article. You can find all of the ingredients in most Asian grocery stores.

The hardest thing for me when going on diet is to give up this carb - noodle. It is one of my very best friends and it personifies life like no other. Life is a like a bowl of noodles. It is tangled, and we search at times where it starts and where it ends. But at the same time, throughout the journey, there are good things to taste and experience, unless you find a physical contaminant like a piece of plastic, and break your tooth. It happens once in awhile - but will it stop you for diving into another bowl of noodles? Of course not, because like life, it is worth the risk.