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The term means ‘fried egg noodles’, and in Singapore, it usually refers to the Indian version, in which the noodles are fried with cubes of fresh tomato and boiled potato, shredded cabbage, slices of green chili and green peas.

Flavour comes from the smoky wok, chili paste and a bright red bottled tomato sauce. It is not known when this dish was created, but it was already being sold in the 1950s, when hawkers plied the streets. The mee goreng man’s calling card was the sound of his metal spatula clanging against his wok – the sound could be heard from a distance, so that costumers could come out to the streets and wait for their mee goreng.

It is such an enduring favourite that there are also Malay and Chinese versions of it, which evolved along the way.

Recommended

• Old Satay Club Mee Goreng
  8 Raffles Avenue
  Stall #D, Makansutra Gluttons Bay Hawker Centre, Esplanade Mall

Recipe

Ingredients:

Cooking Oil

2 cloves garlic (chopped)

3 tablespoons of chili paste or to taste (recipe below)

1 lb of Yellow Noodles (rinsed)

3 pieces of dried bean curds (cut into pieces)

1 potato (boiled, peeled, and sliced)

2 eggs

4 squids (cleaned and cut into rings)

A handful of bean sprouts

1 stalk of spring onion (cut into small pieces for garnishing purposes)

2 red chilies (sliced for garnish)

Sauces:

2 tablespoon of soy sauce

2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce or kecap manis

3 tablespoon of tomato ketchup

Sugar and salt to taste

Chili Paste:

1. Blend 10 dried red chilies in a food processor. Add some water and some oil to blend well.

2. Heat the wok and "tumis" (stir fry) the paste until the oil separates from paste. Set aside.

1. Heat the wok and pour in the cooking oil. Add garlic, 3 tablespoons of chili paste, sliced potatoes, bean curb pieces, and squids.

2. Stir fry until fragrant. Add yellow noodles and sauces and continue stirring. Set the noodles to the side of the wok. Add in the sauces now.

3. Add some cooking oil and then crack the eggs. Scramble the eggs and mix in with the noodles.

4. Add in the beansprouts and quick stir for another 1 minute.

Serve hot and garnish with chopped spring onions and sliced red chilies.

Squeeze some lime juice over the noodles before eating.