Welcome writer Carrie Dow to RealFoodTraveler.com. She starts off with a bang, covering exactly the kind of thing we like to show you in our online travel magazine – quintessential dishes the locals love. In this case, it’s a noodle dish called Mie Goreng, in Bali! Carrie even includes a Mie Goreng recipe for the dish to bring some of Bali to you.

A sunny day on the beach in Bali.

To mark my first half century, my husband took me to the beautiful and exotic island of Bali, part of the country of Indonesia. People from all over the world venture to this tiny island for soft sand beaches, tropical weather, delicious food and drink, and charming people. We stayed in the developed tourist area of Nusa Dua, which is located on eastern side of tiny Bukit Peninsula, the piece of land that juts into the Indian Ocean from the island’s southern end. We knew going in that it was a tourist area filled with upscale resorts, shopping malls, and other attractions. Sometimes an area that caters to tourists may not always offer an ‘authentic’ experience. However, we discovered a piece of authentic Bali hidden in the backs of restaurant menus.

Mie Goreng directly translates as fried noodles and is a mildly spicy Indonesian dish with garlic, onion, a mix of vegetables, and a choice of meat, usually prawn or chicken, sometimes beef (if you’re Muslim) or pork (if you’re Hindu). While many varieties of noodle dishes exist throughout Southeast Asia, what puts Bali’s version over the top is a super sweet soy sauce.

We first came across the dish at Jukung Kuning, a beach side restaurant just north of Nusa Dua not part of any resort. We had stopped at the restaurant’s bar the day before to cool off with some chilled beverages. The place charmed us with tables in the sand, koozies for our bottles of local Bintang beer and a Hindu altar above the bar. Flipping through the large menu, we came across American fair like sandwiches and pizzas. I asked the server if there were any Indonesian dishes. She flipped my menu to the back page showing only two: Mie Goreng and Nasi Goreng (fried rice).

We both ordered Mie Goreng, my husband with seafood and I with chicken. My dish arrived on a large blue plate piled with noodles and three chicken skewers on top. My husband’s also had three skewers, one with prawns, one with chunks of fish and one with scallops. The dish was everything I had hoped for on my dream trip to Bali; the noodles were sweet and savory goodness with just enough spice to order a second beer. It came with a small side of salad greens and dry, crunchy rice chips. The plate had enough food to keep me full the whole day.

A filling plate of Mie Goreng, in Bali.

Restaurants abound in Nusa Dua with most resorts having three or four to choose from and the nearby Bali Collection Shopping Mall had at least a dozen including Starbucks. Being a tourist area, mall restaurants offer a variety of cuisines to accommodate the range of visiting nationalities. With some menus the size of coffee table books, it wasn’t unusual to see Italian lasagna next to American hamburgers next to Cantonese dim sum. However, a flip to the back page always revealed Mie Goreng.

At the mall we dined at Paon where I ate another dish of Mie Goreng. We also sipped another Bintang, now our new favorite beer. Locally called Bir Bintang, the name means Star Beer and is a light lager that might look familiar. Owned by global company Heineken, Bintang matches it right down to the green bottle with a red star on it. That’s because Heineken founded the Balinese brewery in 1929 during Dutch colonial rule.

Food isn’t that expensive in Bali, even in high end establishments. Behind tourism, agriculture is a main form of commerce and many items are grown or raised on island making food plentiful and fresh. Obviously fishing is a major industry along with rice, fruits, vegetables, tea and coffee. While we could have easily spent a lot of money on imported Japanese Waygu beef or Australian lamb, we found Mie Goreng not only delicious, but inexpensive.

A small cafe, La Tartine.

Near the end of our trip we ventured into the capital city of Ubud for the day and found a small café called La Tartine on a busy street. The menu was an eclectic mix of French and British, but near the dessert page Mie Goreng easily stood out.

The interior of La Tartine, where we had another version of Mie Goreng.

This plate had skinnier noodles, scrambled egg, and the chicken was mixed in the dish instead of on skewers. It was just another way local establishments make it their own.

A different restaurant’s version of Mie Goreng.

Mie Goreng Recipe

Upon returning home I wanted to make Mie Goreng to remember our amazing trip and found a simple recipe online. The key to this dish is kecap manis, sweet soy sauce. While most Asian markets sell ready-made bottles, you can easily make it yourself with regular soy sauce and dark brown sugar.

Kecap Manis

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup and 1/8 cup brown sugar

In a small pot, add ¼ cups brown sugar and soy sauce. Boil over low to medium flame until it looks like maple syrup. Add remaining brown sugar. If the mixture boils too vigorously, remove from heat to calm down and return to lower heat. After a few minutes remove from heat and the sauce will thicken as it cools.

Mie Goreng

The great thing about this dish is you can easily customize it with your favorite vegetables and/or meat.

Three 3 oz. packages of ramen noodles (do not use flavor packets)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into strips

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 pinch of ground black pepper or to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup chopped shallots

Five cloves of garlic, chopped

1 cup shredded cabbage

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

¼ soy sauce

¼ cup kecap manis

¼ cup oyster sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring pot of water to a boil and cook ramen until tender, about three minutes. Plunge the noodles into cold water to stop the cooking, drain the water, and drizzle noodles with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Set aside.

Place the chicken strips in a bowl and toss with olive oil, garlic salt, and black pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over high heat and stir cook chicken until no longer pink, about five minutes. Stir in the shallots and garlic until they turn brown. Add cabbage, carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms, and cook and stir the vegetables until tender, about five minutes.

Stir in the ramen noodles, soy sauce, kecap manis and oyster sauce mixing the noodles and sauces into the vegetables and chicken. Bring mixture to a simmer, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve hot.

The first time I made this dish, I used only broccoli, mushrooms and carrots. I also skipped the oyster sauce because 1) my local grocery store didn’t carry it and 2) some online reviews said the oyster sauce made it a little too salty. You can also use egg noodles instead of instant ramen and for extra texture add a scrambled egg.  Substitute rice and you have Nasi Goreng. Every bite will transport you to beautiful Bali.

— Article and photos by Carrie Dow

Hungry for more? Find out why Bali was named one of the Top 10 places to live overseas, here.