Bihun goreng with shrimp, sliced bakso, chicken and vegetables in Indonesia | |
Course | Main course |
---|---|
Region or state | Maritime Southeast Asia |
Associated cuisine | Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Rice vermicelli |
Bihun goreng, bee hoon goreng or mee hoon goreng refers to a dish of fried noodles cooked with rice vermicelli in both the Indonesian and Malay languages. [1] In certain countries, such as Singapore, the term goreng is occasionally substituted with its English equivalent for the name of the dish. [2]
There is no single defined recipe for the dish, and its composition and preparation varies greatly from household to household in all relevant cultural and linguistic regions, which may include vegetarian versions. [3] [4] [5]
In Indonesian cuisine, bihun goreng is associated with Chinese Indonesian and Javanese cuisine. Like mie goreng or kwetiau goreng, bihun goreng is usually seasoned with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and bumbu. [6] Typical ingredients involved in its preparation include garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, beef, or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and other vegetables. The dish may be accompanied with acar and garnished with fried shallots. [7] [8] [9]
There are two distinct varieties—one is Chinese Indonesian version which does not use sweet soy sauce, the other is the Javanese version which does use sweet soy sauce. Bihun goreng with sweet soy sauce has that sweet and savoury flavour with smoky aroma. [10] The Chinese Indonesian version however, uses no sweet soy sauce, thus similar to common Chinese-style stir fried rice vermicelli, akin to Singaporean fried bee hoon.
In Indonesia bihun goreng might be consumed solely as a main dish, or served as an addition or topping in other dish, such as add upon nasi uduk (fragrant coconut rice) or nasi campur (mixed rice).
Noteworthy variants of the dish found in Malaysia include bihun goreng utara or Northern-style fried rice vermicelli, which refers to its prevalence in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. A popular breakfast food and snack, it is fried to a dry texture, and seasoned with chilli powder and chives. [11]
In Singapore, rice vermicelli is locally known and spelled as bee hoon, mee hoon, or mai fun. [2] [12] The dish is generally prepared mild without any spicy seasonings, and is a popular option for breakfast. [13]
Indonesian cuisine is a collection of various regional culinary traditions that formed in the archipelagic nation of Indonesia. There are a wide variety of recipes and cuisines in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 600 ethnic groups.
Malay cuisine is the traditional food of the ethnic Malays of Southeast Asia, residing in modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the Philippines as well as Cocos Islands, Christmas Island, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state.
Nasi uduk is an Indonesian-style steamed rice cooked in coconut milk dish, especially popular in Betawi cuisine.
Chinese Indonesian cuisine is characterized by the mixture of Chinese with local Indonesian style. Chinese Indonesians, mostly descendant of Han ethnic Hokkien and Hakka speakers, brought their legacy of Chinese cuisine, and modified some of the dishes with the addition of Indonesian ingredients, such as kecap manis, palm sugar, peanut sauce, chili, santan and local spices to form a hybrid Chinese-Indonesian cuisine. Some of the dishes and cakes share the same style as in Malaysia and Singapore, known as Nyonya cuisine by the Peranakan.
Rice vermicelli is a thin form of noodle. It is sometimes referred to as "rice noodles" or "rice sticks", but should not be confused with cellophane noodles, a different Asian type of vermicelli made from mung bean starch or rice starch rather than rice grains themselves.
Nasi goreng, is a Southeast Asian rice dish with pieces of meat and vegetables added. It can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir-fried rice in a small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis, shallot, garlic, ground shrimp paste, tamarind and chilli and accompanied by other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin which is also popular across Indonesia.
Fried noodles are common throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Many varieties, cooking styles, and ingredients exist.
Rice noodles are noodles made with rice flour and water as the principal ingredients. Sometimes ingredients such as tapioca or corn starch are added in order to improve the transparency or increase the gelatinous and chewy texture of the noodles. Rice noodles are most common in the cuisines of China, India and Southeast Asia. They are available fresh, frozen, or dried, in various shapes, thicknesses and textures. Fresh noodles are also highly perishable; their shelf life may be just several days.
Mie goreng, also known as bakmi goreng, is an Indonesian stir-fried noodle dish. It is made with thin yellow noodles stir-fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, fried prawn, chicken, beef, or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and other vegetables. Ubiquitous in Indonesia, it is sold by food vendors from street hawkers (warungs) to high-end restaurants.
Soto mie, Soto mi, or Mee soto is a spicy Indonesian noodle soup dish commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Mie means noodle made of flour, salt and egg, while soto refers to Indonesian soup. In Indonesia, it is called soto mie and is considered one variant of soto, while in Malaysia and Singapore it is called mee soto.
Kwetiau goreng is an Indonesian style of stir-fried flat rice noodle dish. It is made from noodles, locally known as kwetiau, which are stir-fried in cooking oil with garlic, onion or shallots, beef, chicken, fried prawn, crab or sliced bakso (meatballs), chili, Chinese cabbage, cabbages, tomatoes, egg, and other vegetables with an ample amount of kecap manis. In Asia, kwetiau is available in two forms, dried and fresh. Its recipe is quite similar to another Chinese Indonesian favourite, mie goreng, except for the use of flat rice noodles in kwetiau goreng.
Mie ayam, mi ayam, or bakmi ayam is a common Indonesian dish of seasoned yellow wheat noodles topped with diced chicken meat. It is derived from culinary techniques employed in Chinese cuisine. In Indonesia, the dish is recognized as a popular Chinese Indonesian dish, served from simple travelling vendor carts frequenting residential areas, humble street-side warung to restaurants.
Betawi cuisine is rich, diverse and eclectic, in part because the Betawi people that create them were composed from numbers of regional immigrants that came from various places in the Indonesian archipelago, as well as Chinese, Indian, Arab, and European traders, visitors and immigrants that were attracted to the port city of Batavia since centuries ago.
Beef kway teow or beef kwetiau is a Maritime Southeast Asian dish of flat rice noodles stir-fried and topped with slices of beef or sometimes beef offal, served either dry or with soup. The dish is commonly found in Southeast Asian countries, especially Singapore and Indonesia, and can trace its origin to Chinese tradition. It is a popular dish in Singaporean cuisine and among Chinese Indonesians, where it locally known in Indonesian as kwetiau sapi.
Mie jawa, also called as mi jawa or bakmi jawa in Indonesia, or mee Jawa in Malaysia is a traditional Javanese style noodle, commonly found in Indonesia and Malaysia. The dish is made of yellow noodle, chicken, vegetables, egg and spices. The recipe however, is slightly different between mie jawa in Indonesia and mee Jawa in Malaysia.
Kwetiau ayam, kuetiau ayam or sometimes kwetiau ayam kuah is a common Chinese Indonesian dish of seasoned flat rice noodles topped with diced chicken meat. It is often described as a kwetiau version of the popular mie ayam, and especially common in Indonesia, and can trace its origin to Chinese cuisine.
Indonesian noodles are a significant aspect of Indonesian cuisine which is itself very diverse. Indonesian cuisine recognizes many types of noodles, with each region of the country often developing its own distinct recipes.