Semi-homemade Simple Frills, A Bakmi Mewah Story

Imagine being newlyweds, nestled into a new house with boxes all around you. While it’s exciting to start a new life with someone special, but unboxing your belongings aren’t as fun. You couldn’t find things you want to use and you didn’t know where you put the clothes you want to wear. Needless to say, when it comes to food, eating out and take away have always been the options.

That’s Fiona’s life for the past three weeks. 

How about cooking instant food, or what we love to call, semi-homemade? So, the other day, Fiona gave it a try. “The key ingredient is meat, because I love meat. The others are things are easily available at Supermarket shelves. Plus a bit of leftover veggies in the fridge.” To this, Ruth is frowning, “Don’t tell me, you’ve been living off salads as emergency food.” Well, marriage life supposed to be romantic and fairy-tale like, especially when you finally have your own kitchen after years of using your mom’s. But apparently it’s not as stress-free.

So here it goes, creating a simple meal, without sacrificing luxury.

Bakmi Mewah Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 box Bakmi Mewah
• Steak cutlet
• Olive Oil (for pan frying)
• A hint of: Rosemary, Basil, Salt and pepper

For the salad mix: 

• Tomato Cherry
• Lime
• Lettuce
• Mint Leaves
• Japanese Cucumber
• Red Onion
• Ground Nuts, fried and roughly grinded

Sauce

• 2 spoonful Fish Thai Sauce
• sugar
• Yellow Lime Juice
• Chili (I use Cabai keriting) 
• Mint

How to cook:

• Start to boil water on pan for the noddle.
• While you wait, sprinkle enough salt and pepper to the steak cutlet. Add on Rosemary and Basil afterwards. Leave it marinated for 30 minutes. 
• Grind the nuts and mix the salad. Then mix the sauces. Set aside, return to the boiling pan and start cooking Bakmi Mewah.
• Return to your steak. Heat the pan and pour enough Olive Oil. Put the steak inside, pan fried for 2 minutes on each side. I like my meat medium rare.

Ruth: You know, I read somewhere that the right time to take your noodle out the water pan is when the water starts boiling.
Fiona: Why?
Ruth: I think it has something to do with texture.

Cooking the perfect instant noodle is important. Especially when you're thinking luxury food where everything is cooked into perfection, then the noodle should be treated the same way. Dip the dry noodle into the hot water but don't stir them. When they're soften, they will separate on their own. Take the noodle out when the water started to boil. You'll ended up with noodle that's not too soft or too hard. At least that's what Ruth did when she's cooking instant noodle. It hasn't failed her so far.

Why Bakmi Mewah? When you’re thinking about creating a semi-homemade dish with a luxury touch on it, you’d search for something different as the main ingredients. Bakmi Mewah, as expected of its name, feels right when paired with something like steak cutlet and salad. Their slightly thicker and fuller textures (but soft enough in the mouth) ask for something more than the comforting sunny side up eggs. So steak cutlet it is. We’re happy to find that this sesame-flavored noddle fits our fusion dish idea real well. The inviting smells of the cooked steak blends well with the curious aroma of freshly drained noodle. Just in case you're wondering, Bakmi Mewah is a brand under Mayora, which has almost 40 years of experience in consumer goods. It's the first instant noodle to come with actual chicken meat and mushroom packed inside the box.

This recipe is created to answer a challenge held by Bakmi Mewah and Indonesian Foodblogger. We dare you to make your own luxury dish and submit them here.