Bami Goreng

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 400 g turkey fillet(s) or chicken fillets
• 200 g tagliatelle or other ribbon pasta
• 150 g mushrooms
• 150 g corn
• 1 bell pepper(s), red
• 1 bell pepper(s), green
• 200 g sugar snap peas
• 1 large carrot(s)
• 2 small onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 bunch of spring onions
• 2 tsp jalapeño(s), finely chopped
• 60 g mung bean sprouts
• 2 tsp, heaped Thai curry paste (Massaman)
• 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
• 10 tbsp soy sauce, light
• 6 tbsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp, levelled cane sugar, brown
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• Pepper, black and white or mixed, freshly ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 50 minutes

Cut the poultry into bite-sized cubes. In a plastic bag, combine the cubes with 3 tablespoons of sesame oil, 4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 finely chopped garlic clove, paprika powder, and ½ teaspoon of white pepper, curry paste, and chili sauce, and knead thoroughly. Let it marinate for at least an hour. Meanwhile, finely slice the bell peppers and halve them. Trim the ends of the snow peas and cut them into diamond shapes. Clean and slice the mushrooms. Peel the carrot and cut into very fine sticks. Slice the onions, ring the spring onions, and finely dice the jalapeños. Heat a large pan over high heat the entire time. Fry the onion strips in sesame and sunflower oil until light brown. Add the meat and marinade and cook for a few minutes, turning occasionally, until the meat is almost cooked through. Meanwhile, rinse the remaining marinade in the bag with a little water and add it. Remove the meat from the sauce and set aside on a plate. Add the remaining finely chopped garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper strips, brown sugar, and jalapeno cubes to the sauce, fry, and braise. Add a few tablespoons of soy sauce and ½ teaspoon of black pepper, along with a generous splash of water every now and then to prevent burning and ensure there is enough liquid to cook the noodles later. Continue to simmer on high for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the carrot sticks, corn, and snow peas, and simmer for another 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, add the tagliatelle and cook in the liquid until soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed, adding a little more water if necessary. Add the spring onion rings and mung bean sprouts at the end and simmer briefly with the meat for a short while. How long you cook each ingredient, and when you add them, is ultimately a matter of personal taste—apart from the size—and depends on how crunchy and firm you want your vegetables to be. Extra salt isn’t necessary, as there’s enough in the soy sauce. Afterword: The ingredients and quantities aren’t binding; you can basically use any vegetables you like. A little coconut milk would also be a good idea, but you’d need to add more seasoning, because, like cream, coconut milk absorbs an incredible amount of flavor, which also makes it a lifesaver, for example, if things are too spicy. If you don’t have anything else, regular curry powder, some kind of chili, sambal or cayenne pepper, and regular vegetable oil will do. But since you don’t need a lot of either, it’s worth investing in good curry and chili. And even in rural areas, you can now get everything your heart desires in terms of herbs and spices thanks to online shopping. Good ingredients, especially at Asian restaurants, don’t necessarily have to be expensive to be good, but a dish can only ever be as good as its ingredients. Not all chili, for example, are created equal. Apart from the variety, there are also huge differences in taste, from simply disharmoniously unpleasantly hot to exotically sweet, fruity, full-bodied or spicy. The best chili preparations such as chili sauces and curries practically always come from an Asian country of origin. Authentic sauces and pastes are rarely characterized less by a high price than by little or no German text but lots of Asian characters on the packaging, although there are now some tricks being used, for example at Yum Yum. Soy sauce should always be naturally brewed; ingredients such as artificially hydrated vegetable protein or colorings such as caramel have no place in soy sauce. By the way: if you use rice instead of noodles, then it is a nasi goreng.