“Mamak” is a colloquial reference to the Indian-Muslim community in Malaysia. This fried noodle dish is highly popular in Mamak shops across the country. Why? It’s made up of thick noodles coated in a thickened sticky and spicy sauce, loaded with ingredients and perked up with a wedge of lime!

This is one of my favourite dishes to order in a Mamak shop. HOWEVER I am usually wary of 2 things – how ‘wet’ the noodles will turn out and how ‘pedas’ (spicy) the dish will be. So making it at home, allows me to make it to my preference and it’s really been the best!

Worth noting, authentic Mee Goreng Mamak – calls for sliced boiled potato and beansprouts as part of the dish. I politely choose to omit both and instead add in some chicken. We are not great fans of taugeh (beansprouts) so we just leave them out.

Yellow noodles are essential in this dish as are cubed pieces of firm tofu which I use my Air Fryer to fry. The sauce is made up of a host of pantry staples and also includes an ingredient which may surprise you – peanut butter. I’ve used it here and find it works really well for the dish.

The spicy factor comes from the addition of Cili Boh – which is not a pantry staple of mine. So instead I mix chilli powder with some water to form a paste.

I first pre-cook the chicken in the wok and set aside. I then add in the chilli paste and garlic and fry for a bit.

In goes the sauce mix and you want to let that cook for a bit before tossing in the rinsed and loosened yellow noodles and tofu. Toss everything together. It’s nice using a wok here as you can easily toss the noodles around to coat the sauce which is an important step.

Add in the mustard greens, pre-cooked chicken, tomatoes and green chilli as you come to the end of your cook. Let the greens wilt somewhat, season with salt if you wish and swith off flame.

I can’t emphasize enough how important the garnish is for this dish. Here I’ve used, deep fried crispy shallots (you can buy them readymade at most grocers) and lime wedges. The lime especially is really important to zing up the dish and bring the flavours together.

I really appreciate how the sauce clings to the noodles and pairs so well with the airfried tofu, mustard greens, chicken and tomato wedges. To keep this meat-free, you can omit the chicken and add in sliced boiled potato.

I’ll definitely be making this again for us. Check out some other noodle recipes I have over here.

Airfrying tofu for me has been so easy, you can check out the method here and also other Air Fryer recipes here.

Mee Goreng Mamak

Mamak is a colloquial reference to the Indian-Muslim community in Malaysia. These fried noodles are their version of a delicious noodle dish coated in a thickened, spicy sauce garnished with zesty lime!

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

500g fresh yellow noodles, rinsed and loosened

Sauce - Mix all together

2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp bottled chili sauce
2 tbsp bottled tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper
3-4 tbsp water

Others

1 tbsp Cili Boh OR 1 tbsp chilli powder mixed with water to form a paste
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 Chicken breast cubed seasoned with salt
1 bunch mustard greens or sawi leave out stalks and chop greens
1-2 pieces firm beancurd / tofu Cubed and airfried at 180C for 5mins
1/2 tomato, cut into wedges
1 green chilli sliced

Garnish

1 lime quartered
Deep fried crispy shallots

Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat some oil in a wok and pan fry chicken cubes till cooked. Remove. In same wok with some oil, add in Cili Boh or chilli paste and garlic. Fry until fragrant. Add the seasoning sauce and fry for a few seconds then add in noodles and air fried tofu. Fry over high heat for 2 minutes stirring and adding a splash of water if noodles stick to wok.
Add the mustard greens, chicken, tomatoes and green chilli. Fry for 2 minutes more before dishing out. Season with salt if you wish. Garnish with fried shallots and squeeze the lime over the noodles just before eating.

Notes

Top Tips:

I read that spaghetti makes a good sub for the yellow noodles tho I've not tried it myself. <Edit: I've tried using spaghetti - and yes it does make a good sub. Use only about 180g when using spaghetti.>
You can increase the level of spiciness if preferred. Adjust the seasonings according to your preference too.
Be sure the peanut butter is diluted well in the sauce.
Good luck!