Bakmi

Bakmi
Bakmi topped with chicken and mushroom with Pangsit in soup
Type	Noodle
Place of origin	Indonesia
Main ingredients	Wheat flour, ground pork, soy sauce
Cookbook:Bakmi Bakmi

Bami goreng (fried bakmi) in the Netherlands

Bakmi consists of two Hokkien Chinese words literally translated to English as "meat noodles" (肉麵, Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-mī). Bakmi is a wheat based noodle which was brought to Southeast Asia by Chinese immigrants with Fujian or Hokkien origin, generally prepared and topped with minced soy-sauce pork and few sliced of char-siu(叉燒) or barbecued pork, addition of Chinese green vegetable leaf and a bowl of Broth, today Bakmi become one of common noodle dish, and especially in Southeast Asia which have significant Chinese populations. The dish has also been further developed to more closely align with the local tastes. Bakmi is between Chinese style wheat noodles and Japanese Udons in thickness, and there are several variants of bakmi in Indonesia.

The most common type of bakmi in Indonesia is mi kuning, or 'yellow noodles'. And the most common recipe of bakmi dish in Indonesia uses chicken meat as the majority of Indonesians are Muslim. Chicken noodle (Indonesian: bakmie ayam or mie ayam), Mie ayam is wheat noodle topped with diced chicken meat seasoned in soy sauce. Mie ayam often accompanied with wonton (Indonesian: pangsit) either crispy fried or in soup, and also bakso (meatball). Bakmi ayam is a popular Chinese Indonesian dish and ubiquitous in Indonesian cities, it can be served in a restaurant to a humble travelling cart.

The other popular Indonesian bakmi recipe is fried bakmi (Indonesian: bakmie goreng or mie goreng).

In Thailand, wheat noodles are also known as bami (Thai: บะหมี่). It is eaten mainly in noodle soups and in Chinese style stir-fried noodle dishes.

Bakmi/bami strongly resembles the Chinese noodles called lamian and mee pok.

The words mie and bami, used in Dutch, come from bakmi and were introduced into the Dutch language during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia. Indonesian food is very popular in the Netherlands, and bami goreng (fried bakmi) is a popular dish.

Preparation

Bakmi is normally boiled for serving. When bakmi is intended for use in soup, it is usually boiled separately from the broth. The noodles are usually mixed with either pork fat, chicken fat or beef fat. They are then served with toppings that vary from diced seasoned chicken to bok choy, fried or boiled wonton, bakso (meatballs). The soup is served in a different bowl, and is added to the noodles by the individual diner according to taste.

Some boiled bakmi are also served with thick gravy instead of a soup, or stir fried. The stir fried process follows after boiling the bakmi, it is stir-fried with vegetables, sweet soy sauce, meat, eggs or any other ingredients such as curry powder or gravy. However, there are exceptions such as Ifu mi, which is bakmi that is first deep fried and then topped with vegetables, meat and gravy.

Varieties

Indonesian

Bakmi ayam or Mie ayam, Indonesian Chinese chicken noodles, omnipresent in Indonesia
Bakmi Goreng, Indonesian Chinese fried noodles, omnipresent in Indonesia
Bakmi Bangka, from Bangka island
Bakmi Jawa, from Central/East Java with somewhat wet consistency
Bakmi Aceh, from Aceh, it has a curry-like flavor
Bakmi Celor, from Palembang, it has a sweet starchy gravy.
Mie Pangsit,or Wonton Mi, generally known from Sumatera area, North Sumatera, Medan, etc.
Bakmi Belitung, from Belitung island, with sweet white sauce.
Bakmi Kangkung, it is composed of noodles, kangkung, bean sprouts, lime juice, mince meat, and broth.

Thailand

khao soi (Thai: ข้าวซอย), Northern Thai curry-soup dish
mi krop (Thai: หมี่กรอบ), deep fried bami

References

"Ifu Mie". Merry's Kitchen of Indonesian Cuisine. Archived from the original on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-04.