Hello all food lovers!
This morning i had street chicken noodle for breakfast :)
Noodle is very common in Indonesia. So common that instant noodles are part of daily life.
Indonesia is one of the biggest consumer of instant noodle after Japan and China.
There are no less than ten brand of instant noodles in Indonesia, with more than 50 kind of variations.
But today I'm not talking about instant noodles, I'm talking about fresh-made noodle (not instant one), especially street chicken noodle.
Besides instant noodle, the fresh-made noodle is also one of Indonesian favorite meal.
Although noodle wasn't originated in Indonesia (in China I believe), it is very well accepted here.
There are so many fresh-made noodle style. Almost every city or province in Indonesia has it's own noodle style. We have Aceh noodle, Medan noodle, Bangka noodle, Palembang noodle, Jambi noodle, Lampung noodle, Jakarta noodle, Bandung noodle, Kalimantan noodle, Jawa noodle, etc.
I'll write about those noodle one by one later.
Because there are so many noodle-style, eventually we know one kind of noodle that is quite common all over Indonesia. We usually call it as 'chicken noodle' (Mi ayam).
This kind of chicken noodle i'm talking here is sold on the street, using two-wheeled cart. It is not quite clear what kind of noodle style is the (street) chicken noodle. But as far as i know, I believe it's somehow inherits Bangka noodle style, with some depreciations.
Actually not every chicken noodle is sold on the street using cart. While the street chicken noodle is really served on the street (often without tables for customers), some of better-established seller would rent a small place (warung) with decent tables and chairs. Of course, it's more convenient eating on the table, but the experience of eating on the street - just sitting on a very simple stool (even when there's no stool at all, you have to sit on whatever you can find) without table - may be unique for some people.
Overview
The street chicken noodle sellers usually don't make their own noodle. They have suppliers or maybe bossess who supply the noodle.
The noodle itself is made of wheat flour with or without eggs. Somehow, the noodle is already separated into portions of one bowl. So, if the seller want to serve a customer, he is simply take one portion of the noodle and boil it in water along with vegetables.
It is called chicken noodle because it has chopped and cooked chicken meat in top of the noodle.
Like any other food seller who uses cart, the chicken noodle cart is designed so compact that the seller can carry everything he needs inside it, including cooking and preparing the noodle.
Here is a photo of common street chicken noodle cart (sorry it's blurry, i only use cellphone camera)
Pic 1 A common street chicken noodle cart
Ingredients
I don't know the exact noodle recipe, but here is based on my observation:
some wheat flour
some water
some egg yolk (some people don't use egg yolk to reduce cost)
some cooking oil
Mix all the ingredients altogether until it's become dough. Beat the dough over and over again until it's softened. Then, using special noodle making machine, you roll the dough over and over again until it become noodle.
Thanks to Aulia Hazza (auliahazza.com) for this picture :
Pic 2 Making noodle with special machine
The ready-to-boil noodle is already prepared in the cart. The seller is simply boil the noodle and add toppings to it.
The toppings are usually :
- sweet-soya-sauce chicken
- boiled vegetables (beansprouts and chinese cabbage)
- fried shallot
Additional menus are usually :
- meatballs
- wontons
- fried wontons
The sweet-soya-sauce chicken is already cooked at home. Based on my observation, here is common recipe for sweet-soya-sauce chicken :
- 1 chicken, chopped into very small pieces
- some chopped garlic
- some sliced shallot
- some sweet-soya-sauce
- salt
- pepper
- a little sugar
- some cooking oil
- some water
Here's some video when the street chicken noodle seller was on action :
Sorry, it's kinda blurry, i took the video using a cellphone.
Here are some photo of street-chicken noodles (taken with cellphone camera) :
Pic 3 Street chicken noodles with vegetables,
sweet-soya-sauce chicken, and some tomato sauce
Where to Buy and Price
Chicken noodle varies in price, depends on the brand, taste and location.
Street chicken noodles are usually have no specific brand, and the taste are just so-so. Therefore, you can buy it (November 2008, in Jakarta) for around 6000 rupiahs without meatballs/wontons, and around 8000 rupiahs with meatballs/wontons.
You can find street chicken noodle almost everywhere.
Higher price usually applies to better-established chicken noodles that have permanent kiosk and better taste. Maybe I'll talk about specific brand of chicken noodle in later posts.
Let's Learn Bahasa Indonesia
How do you say Mi (or Mie) Ayam
Mi as in do re mi
A as in ah with silent h
yam like saying yum
A little note about the term 'Mi' :
In Indonesia, the term Mi has some synonyms : Mie, Bakmi, Bakmie, Bak Mie
They all have the same meaning.
It's believed that the term mi was originated from Chinese language which also means noodles.
While the term Bak in Chinese language means pork.
So, actually the term Bak Mie refers to noodles with pork servings. But, in Indonesia, it is uncommon to eat pork as it's considered haram (unclean) in Islam. Therefore, the term Bakmi is currently has no association with pork anymore and already well accepted nation-wide.
Visit Indonesia
Although noodle is not originated from Indonesia, it's very well accepted and has become part of daily life. Even, some cities in Indonesia have their own traditional noodle styles which are considered as original.
So, let's come here and have some street chicken noodles in my beautiful Indonesia.
