The Taste of Home: Chef Ype Makes Bami Goreng

If you don’t recognize Chef Ype from his 2017 “Chopped” win, you may know him for his award-winning work as co-founder and executive chef of The Silver Diner and Silver New American Brasseries in the D.C. metro area.

But before the career, travel, and accolades there was childhood in Northern Holland, where Ype spent Sunday afternoons cooking meals with his mother. It was a ritual that helped shape his love of food and, in turn, his love for life.

For many of the Dutch, “comfort food” may actually not be Dutch at all, but Indonesian—such as Ype’s comfort food of choice, bami goreng (also referred to as bakmi goreng or mie goreng). Translated “fried noodles,” it is just one of the dishes adopted into Dutch cuisine during the Dutch East Indies’ 19th to 20th century rule over modern-day Indonesia.

If you visit any major supermarket in the Netherlands today, you’ll find ketjap, boemboe, sambal—ingredients sweet and spicy that provide the characteristic flavors for Dutch-Indonesian dishes popular across the country. Other common favorites include nasi goreng (stir fry with rice), rijsttafel (meaning “rice table,” an elaborate lineup of Indonesian small plates made to be shared), and patat met satesaus (Dutch fries with peanut sauce).

Bami goreng can be enjoyed by itself or as an entree with chicken, shrimp, or tofu satay. Here are guidelines for making Ype’s rendition of this hearty dish.

Build It: Chicken, Shrimp, or Tofu Satay with Bami Goreng

Ingredients

Method

Marinade

1. Soak bamboo skewers in garlic oil for 30 minutes.
2. In the meantime, cook egg noodles. Toss in sesame oil.
3. Mix marinade ingredients together, then place in a blender and run until smooth.
4. Divide into 3 separate bowls to marinate chicken, shrimp, and/or tofu.
5. Clean chicken thigh meat off bone and cut into chunks. Peel shrimp.
6. Marinate proteins separately for 20 minutes, then skewer.

Curry Peanut Sauce

1. While the skewers marinate, combine sauce ingredients in a blender and run until smooth.
2. Pour sauce into a pot and bring to a boil.
3. Once removed from heat, sauce is ready to use.

Bami Goreng

1. While the sauce cooks, ladle garlic oil into a pan and let it heat up. Sweat red onions, ginger, and peppers in oil.
2. Add cooked egg noodles and toss.
3. Place skewers on the grill for 2 minutes on each side, making sure not to overcook.
4. Arrange skewers around the bami and vegetables. Enjoy with peanut sauce.

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Sources

• https://www.expatica.com/nl/lifestyle/food-drink/dutch-indonesian-food-505212/
• http://www.indonesiancooking101.com/catalog/?recipe_name=Bakmi%20Goreng%20Ayam%20(Chicken%20Stir%20Fried%20Noodles)