Bakmi Ayam Jamur (Chicken Mushroom Egg Noodle)

I heard on the news the other day that La Nina is coming this year and it will hit Pacific Northwest this winter. No wonder… It is super duper cold this fall. It is not even winter yet and I already witnessed three days of snow early November. Can you believe it? When the weather this cold, I want, sorry… I MUST get my comfort food. One of my comfort food from my childhood involved lots of noodle. Can you tell by now that I am a big fan of noodle? So, let me share you one of my favorite comfort food recipe, Bakmi Ayam Jamur (or Chicken Mushroom Egg Noodle).

Bakmi (meaning noodle dish) is quite popular in Indonesia. You can literally find bakmi in every corner of the street. Be it inside a fancy restaurant down to the street vendor. Each type of bakmi is unique and has its own distinct flavor and topping. However, the most popular one is Bakmi Ayam Jamur. It is like the most original version of bakmi.

The chicken and mushroom together along with the delicate sweet and savory flavor of the soy sauce complements perfectly. It is considered as dry noodle, but not too dry as you can still get the thick broth flavor from chicken-mushroom topping. On the side, you have a light soup that is refreshing and not too overpowering the egg noodle. Aaah, my mouth is watering thinking about it. Shall we get cooking?

Tip: You can prepare the topping and the soup portions first. When you are about to eat, then you prepare the noodle and vegetable. This way, the noodle would not get soggy or cold.

Ingredient:

Noodle and veggie:

• 1 pack fresh egg noodle (4 portion) or dried egg noodle
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 dashes white pepper
• 2 cups water to boil
• ½ lb you choy

Topping

• 1 pack white mushroom
• 1 lb chicken breast – cut into cube
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Soup

• 2 cans chicken broth
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 shallot – sliced
• 1 pack meatball
• Salt and pepper to season
• ½ cup chopped green onion (to garnish)

Direction:

Topping

• Slice the mushroom into small pieces. Set aside
• Heat the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat.
• Once heated, put minced garlic and chicken breast. Stir until it is cooked thoroughly.
• Add mushroom, oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce and soy sauce.
• Stir it well and lower the heat to low setting. Simmer for about 10 min. Then, set aside.

Soup

• While the topping is simmering. Heat the chicken broth in a big pot under a medium heat until it is boiling.
• Once boiled, add garlic, shallot and meatball. Stir well and let it boil for another 3 min. Set aside.

Noodle + Veggie

• Boil the water under a medium heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and let it boiled.
• Meanwhile, prepare four separate bowls.
• In each bowl, put 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tbsp of soy sauce and a dash of pepper.
• When it is boiled, cook 1 portion of noodle at a time. When adding the noodle to the boiled pot, make sure that you ‘open-up’ the egg noodle. This is to ensure that each strand of noodle is cooked thoroughly.
• Each portion of noodle should take about 1 or 2 minutes to cook.
• Once cooked, put the noodle directly to the bowl that has oil, soy sauce and pepper. Stir it immediately so that the flavor mixed well with the noodle.
• Dip the veggie to the boiled water and take it out immediately. If you want it softer, dip it longer.
• Take the veggie out and put it in the bowl, on top of the stirred noodle.

Final Step

• Scoop out the topping and put it on top of the noodle.
• Add the meatball to the bowl (as you can see in the picture or can leave it in the soup)
• Pour the soup in a separate bowl and garnish with chopped onion.
• Enjoy your dish!