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Pimp your two-minute noodles with Luke Nguyen

Luke Nyugen

Put an egg on it! Maggi goreng.
Put an egg on it! Maggi goreng.Alan Benson

It's been said before but I'll say it too; Malaysian food could well be the original fusion cuisine. Just look at the influences on it: indigenous Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan, English, Dutch and Portuguese, all combining to make one amazing hodgepodge.

As I walk the tree-lined streets and explore hawker centres in Kuala Lumpur, I feel like I'm in Mumbai one minute and Beijing the next. I meet Chinese women queuing for pakoras, curry puffs and vadai in Brickfields, a staunchly Indian quarter. Meanwhile, in a Hokkien-dominated area, ethnic Indians slurp bak kut teh, a porky, herbal soup from the Chinese medicinal food tradition.

So many different languages, aromas and cultures all mashed up together make the city intriguing to me.

Street Food Asia by Luke Nguyen.
Street Food Asia by Luke Nguyen.Hardie Grant Books
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Maggi goreng - Wok-tossed instant noodles with fried egg

Yes, this dish is made using good old Maggi instant noodles – in Malaysia they pronounce the g's hard, so it sounds like "maggie" – this dish is actually not that unusual and you'll find it in restaurants and at mamaks all over the place. People love it.

To make it, cooks blanch and drain the instant noodles then toss them in a wok with tofu, choy sum, bean sprouts and egg. Some chilli sauce and soy sauce get thrown in, as well as the noodle seasonings from the sachet. The whole thing is served with a fried egg or two on top and it tastes great.

This is the perfect dish to make when you get home late or don't have much in your cupboard.

INGREDIENTS

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2 x 80g Maggi instant noodle packets, plus seasoning powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 bird's-eye chillies, smashed

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100g bean sprouts

100g choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), cut into 3cm lengths

85g fried tofu puffs, sliced

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp sambal oelek chilli paste

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1 tbsp kecap manis

METHOD

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the noodles and blanch for two minutes or until al dente. Drain.

2. Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, crack two of the eggs into the pan and fry, sunny side up, until the eggs are cooked but the yolks still quite runny.

3. Meanwhile, bring a wok to a high heat. Add the remaining vegetable oil together with the smashed garlic and chilli and saute for 10 seconds, then add the remaining two eggs (which have been beaten together) and cook, stirring, until the eggs are well scrambled.

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4. Now add the bean sprouts, choy sum, sliced tofu, noodle seasoning powder, oyster sauce, sambal oelek and kecap manis and noodles. Toss for 2 minutes. Divide the noodle mixture between individual serving plates, top each with a fried egg and serve.

Serves 2

Three cup chicken.
Three cup chicken.Alan Benson

San bei ji - three-cup chicken

Here's a dish that originated in south China's Jiangxi Province and has become incredibly popular in Malaysia. It's served as "confinement food", fed to women in the weeks before and after they have given birth, to build up their strength and help them properly recuperate.

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In Malaysia, as in China, there's an entire repertoire of these confinement dishes and even today, serving them to expectant and new mothers is taken very seriously.

This dish is called "three-cup chicken" because, originally, cooks used a cup each of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil in the dish. Traditionally it is cooked in a clay pot and this definitely adds another flavour dimension to the chicken.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp sesame oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled

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8cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and very finely sliced

450g chicken drumsticks, chopped into 4cm pieces through the bone

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1½ tbsp kecap manis

3 tbsp shaoxing rice wine

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1 large handful Thai basil leaves

3 spring onions, sliced into 4cm lengths, to garnish

steamed jasmine rice, to serve

METHOD

1. Place a four-litre clay pot on the stove over a high heat (or you can use a normal pot). Add the sesame oil and whole garlic cloves and stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add the sliced ginger and saute until fragrant.

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2. Add the chopped chicken to the pot and stir-fry on a high heat for two minutes or until browned on all sides, then add the light soy sauce, kecap manis and two tablespoons of shaoxing rice wine and stir-fry for another two minutes. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5-8 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to a glossy, sticky sauce and the chicken pieces are cooked through.

3. Return the heat to high, add the remaining tablespoon of shaoxing rice wine and stir in the basil leaves. Remove from the heat.

4. Serve in the clay pot or a serving bowl, garnished with the spring onion pieces and accompanied by steamed jasmine rice.

Serves 4-6 as part of a shared meal

This is an edited extract from Street Food Asia by Luke Nguyen, published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $39.99 and available in stores nationally.

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Photo: Supplied

COMPETITION

Win one of three amazing APT luxury holidays escorted by celebrity chef Luke Nguyen. Good Food has partnered with Traveller and APT to give away one of three luxurious cruises, escorted by APT ambassador, chef and television personality Luke Nguyen.

The three trips are: Luke Nguyen's Vietnam & Cambodia River Cruise, Luke Nguyen's Hidden Wonders of Myanmar, Luke Nguyen's Grand Bordeaux.

For your chance to win, describe in 25 words or less which of the three unforgettable trips with Luke Nguyen you would love to win and why. Entries close on Sunday, September 9.

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