Mie Aceh (Curry Udon from Aceh)

Today's recipe was based on Mie Aceh recipe (mie means noodle, Aceh is a province of the northern Sumatra in Indonesia). As many other dishes from Sumatra, this Mie Aceh has thick influence of Indian and Middle Eastern spices. 

By the look of it, Mie Aceh looks like any Asian stir-fry noodle, with slices of preferred meat (seafood, chicken, lamb, beef), and assorted small vegetables (beansprout, julliened carrot, chopped cabbage). But, once you get a hint of its smell, you know this is not just a regular Chinese take-out kind of noodle dish. 

My first encounter with this curry flavoured noodle was back when I was in college. My friend took me to a little (and rather dirty), yet busy eatery in a bus terminal in Jakarta. Too be honest, I was a bit skeptical when I saw the stall, I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but my mom taught me to judge an eatery by its cleanliness. And this one was like 5 out 10 in cleanliness, but it had 12 out 10 in terms of clients. So I thought if more than 10ish people was able to forgive the lack of cleanliness of the place, that must have been for a good reason and I should give it a chance. And so I did. 

The stall was super busy, the cook/waitress will ask you just once so you'd better know what you want beforehand because there's no going back. He asked only 3 questions, and you should answer quick. The questions were: basah/kering (soupy or stir-fried), pedas/ngga pedas (spicy or not), ayam/udang (chicken or shrimp). He takes no bull. No special request like make the noodle a bit this or a bit that, just forget that. Your order will be done basically on your three answers. And if you have any allergic, you'd wanted to just stir clear because he ain't give a dang. It was intense!

This stall, other than doing its minimal in cleanliness, its also has zero care to environment. They serve your order in a styrofoam box and they will also give you a flimsy plastic fork to go with it. Their ignorance was awful, but their cooking was a bliss! They really gave me an impressive first taste of Mie Aceh.

Today I am making my own version of mie Aceh. Instead of using egg noodle, I am using udon. I personally think that udon is the best noodle for any Asian stir-fry noodle recipes and ramen. Its soft, chewy, and absorbs the spices well. 

Lets starts!

Ingredients: 

400 gr udon, boil/blench, follow the package's instruction

300 gr shrimp, peeled

1 shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp mild curry powder (adjust to your taste)

150gr beansprout

5 cabage leaves, shredded into thin strips (I didn't use it)

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1 scallion, chopped 

salt and white pepper

3 tbsp of Ketjap manis

oil to sautée

Ingredients to paste: 

3 thai chilli (add more if you like it spicy)

50 gr shallots

3 garlic
3 candlenuts (optional)
1 cm fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cumin


Cooking steps: 

1. Prepare the udon as instructed on the package,set aside, 
2. Using a mortar pestle (or electric food processor), paste chilli, shallots, garlic, candlenuts, fresh ginger and cumin,
   
   
   
   
3. On a wok, sautée thinly sliced shallots and paste ingredients with oil until fragrant, add curry powder,
4. Add shrimp, tomato, and udon, mix gently and continue cooking until the shrimps start to change color, 
5. Add ketjap manis, salt and white pepper powder, mix gently once again, make sure the udon is well coated with the spices, take a string of udon and taste it, add more salt or ketjap manis if needed, 
6. Once the shrimp is cooked to your taste, add the beansprout, put the lid on, turn off the stove, and set the wok aside and let the beansprout soften up, 
7. Plate the dish and sprinkle chopped scallion on top and kerupuk (shrimp chips) aside. 

Selamat makan!