Two MIE Noodle Recipes for the Wok: Mie Goreng and Yakisoba-Style Stir-Fry

Our MIE noodles are wavy, springy wheat noodles in the South-East Asian style. The waves are not just for looks: they help the noodles hold on to sauce. Because the noodles are already cooked, both dishes below go from cutting board to plate in about 20 minutes.

Before you start: preparing pre-cooked MIE noodles

For stir-fries, cook the noodles a little short so they finish in the pan:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
2. Add the noodles and cook for about 1 minute less than the time on the pack. Loosen them with chopsticks as they soften.
3. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water to stop the cooking, drain well again.
4. Toss with 1 teaspoon of neutral oil per 250 g dry noodles so they don’t stick.

Rule of thumb for portions: 80–100 g dry noodles per main-course portion, more for big eaters.

1. Mie goreng

Mie goreng is the Indonesian stir-fried noodle dish: yellow wheat noodles fried with garlic, shallots, chilli, cabbage and usually chicken or prawns, seasoned with sweet soy sauce. Wavy mie is the natural noodle for it.

Serves 2 · Prep 10 min · Cook 8 min

Ingredients

• 180 g MIE noodles (dry weight)
• 200 g chicken thigh, sliced thin (or 200 g peeled prawns, or firm tofu)
• 2 eggs
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 1 red chilli, sliced (more if you like heat)
• 120 g white or Chinese cabbage, shredded
• 80 g bean sprouts
• 2 spring onions, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 2 tbsp neutral oil

Sauce (mix in a cup):

• 2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sambal oelek, or to taste
• 1 tbsp water

To serve: fried shallots, sliced cucumber, lime wedges.

Method

1. Prepare the noodles as above and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high heat until it smokes lightly. Add 1 tbsp oil and the chicken. Stir-fry for 2–3 minutes until just cooked. Push to the side.
3. Add the remaining oil, then the garlic, shallots and chilli. Stir for 30 seconds until fragrant; don’t let the garlic brown.
4. Crack in the eggs and scramble them roughly for about 30 seconds.
5. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 1 minute.
6. Add the noodles and the sauce. Toss constantly for 2 minutes, lifting the noodles so the sauce coats every strand and the edges catch a little colour.
7. Add bean sprouts and spring onions, toss for 30 seconds, and serve straight away with fried shallots, cucumber and lime.

Tips

• Kecap manis is sweet and burns quickly. Add it with the noodles, not earlier.
• If the pan gets dry, add a splash of water rather than more oil.
• For a vegetarian version, use tofu, replace oyster sauce with mushroom stir-fry sauce, and check that your sambal contains no shrimp paste.

2. Yakisoba-style stir-fry

Yakisoba means “fried soba”, but in Japan it is made with wheat noodles, not buckwheat, and seasoned with a sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce. Our MIE noodles have the right wavy shape for it.

Serves 2 · Prep 10 min · Cook 8 min

Ingredients

• 180 g MIE noodles (dry weight)
• 150 g pork belly or pork shoulder, thinly sliced (or sliced shiitake for a meat-free version)
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 1 carrot, cut into thin sticks
• 150 g white cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1½ tbsp neutral oil

Sauce:

• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar

To serve: pickled ginger, a sprinkle of aonori (seaweed flakes) or sesame seeds, Japanese mayonnaise (optional).

Method

1. Prepare the noodles as above. Mix the sauce.
2. Heat the wok or a large frying pan over high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil and the pork. Fry for 2 minutes until it renders some fat and browns.
3. Add the onion and carrot, fry for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and pepper, fry for 1–2 minutes more. The vegetables should stay crisp.
4. Add the remaining oil and the noodles. Spread them out and leave them for 30 seconds without stirring so the bottom crisps slightly, then toss.
5. Pour in the sauce and toss for 1–2 minutes until the noodles are evenly brown and glossy.
6. Plate and top with pickled ginger and aonori. A thin zigzag of mayonnaise is optional and very good.

Tips

• Japanese bottled yakisoba sauce works too: use about 4 tbsp and skip the mix.
• The short rest in step 4 is what gives yakisoba its slightly crispy bits. Don’t skip it.

For restaurants: batch, hold and serve

Both dishes are built for à la minute wok cooking. A few things make them faster in service:

• Blanch ahead. Cook the noodles 1 minute short before service, cool them quickly in cold water, drain well, oil lightly and keep covered in the fridge. Use them the same day.
• Portion cold. Weigh cooked noodles into portions before service. Noodles gain a lot of weight as they take up water, so weigh your own yield once (dry in, cooked out) and write it on the station card.
• Batch the sauce. Both sauces scale up easily. Mix a litre at a time, keep chilled, and use a ladle or squeeze bottle that delivers one portion.
• Prep the veg mix. For mie goreng, keep cabbage, sprouts and spring onion together in one container per portion size.
• Two portions per wok, not five. Overloading cools the wok and the noodles steam instead of frying.
• Delivery. Pack noodles loosely, not pressed, and put fried shallots and cucumber in a separate pot so they stay crisp.

More from the range

MIE noodles also work in soups: try them in a chicken broth with greens and a soft egg. For a richer, golden noodle, try our Quick Cooking Noodles with Egg, and for a thinner, faster noodle, our Egg Noodles. The whole range is on the products page, and more recipes are in our posts on Quick Cooking Noodles and ramen noodles.

Cooking for a restaurant, canteen or catering business? Ask us about catering packs and samples.