Definitive Guide Series – Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup Samyang Buldak * Nongshim Shin Ramyun * Indomie Mi Goreng
Before I started reviewing instant noodles on a regular basis, I fell in love with a product that was cheap, exotic, and relatively easy to access. That product was Indomie Mi Goreng. I remember when we would venture out of the small town of Anacortes, Washington in the northwest of the United States, I would hope that I would get the chance to visit an Asian grocery store in search of something new to try. I remember after I discovered Indomie Mi Goreng products being just head over heels about their Satay variety. I would get tons of it – 20 or 30 packs. My parents didn’t mind; it was inexpensive. I would share with my friends who hadn’t tried. This is one seriously popular product around the world and just perfection with a fried egg. In this guide, I’m going to go over the history of Indomie’s flagship Mi Goreng, how I prepare it, and some little known facts about it. Sit back, put on your reading glasses, watch me make some, and prepare to learn a little about one of the wonders of the instant noodle world.
The Definitive Guide To Indomie Mi Goreng
History & Trivia
History
- Indofood was founded in 1971 as Panganjaya Intikusuma. “Indomie” was established in 1972, one of the first instant noodle brands in Indonesia.
In 1994, Indofood was established by consolidating several companies, among them Panganjaya Intikusuma. In the same year, Indofood became a public company on the
Jakarta Stock Exchange.
Over the years, Indofood expanded its business in Indonesia and became a company known for its quality products not only in instant noodles, but also dairy, food seasoning, snack foods, nutrition & special foods. However, it is Indomie that is always synonymous with Indofood.
According to Nielsen, Indomie is a brand with one of the highest brand equity in Indonesia. - Indomie wasn’t immediately available for export outside of Indonesia, but something happened. From an interview I conducted a few years ago, ‘Indonesian students and workers also inadvertently introduced Indomie Mi Goreng to their local friends or colleagues. We have many stories of students cooking Indomie noodles in their dorms, and their foreign friends would all come to their room because of the enticing aroma and joined in. That is how Indomie Goreng was first introduced to foreigners.’ It seems I wasn’t the only one to ‘evangelize’ the qualities of Indomie with my friends and family.
Trivia
- Indomie comes in a lot of varieties, from the flagship Mi Goreng, products for kids called My Noodlez, to varieties with Real Meat and extra crunchy bits.
- What’s in a name? Well, Indo comes from Indonesia, and ‘mie’ is how you say noodles over there – basically, Indonesian noodles.
- Children in the US have been selling things to raise money for schools for a long time – Walkathons, cookies for Girl Scouts, etc. In Indonesia, kids sell Indomie to friends and family to raise money for schools.
- Interestingly, in Malaysia both Ibumie and Indomie were made by the same manufacturer. The Indomie brand is Indonesian while the Ibumie brand is a Malaysian brand that came out later due to a change in business direction by Indomie’s Indonesia brand owner which created a vacuum when Indomie exited (temporarily) from the local noodle market some years back. You will notice that Ibumie’s packaging has similarities to Indomies and they in fact were the same company at one point.
- January 27th, 2021 was a sad day for the noodle world. The inventor of the Indomie spice recipe, Nunuk Nuraini died at age 59. She was a food technologist, who had her hand in the development of every variety of Indomie’s flavor bases for instant noodles.
- From an interview I conducted with Indomie – ‘Indonesians love to abbreviate, and one of the most well known is INTERNET, which is the abbreviation of Indomie-TeluR-korNET (Indomie with Fried Egg and Corned Beef). There are variations such as INTERJUNET which is Indomie-TeluR-KeJU-korNET (Indomie with Fried Egg, Cheese and Corned Beef) and INTERSAY which is Indomie-TeluR-SAYur (Indomie with Fried Egg and Vegetables).’
- Who is this man? This little guy was on the sachets for years, however no longer. I asked the company what his name is, but never got an answer. He just kind of hangs out looking at that chili pepper going ‘whoa’ but that’s all we know about him.
How I Prepare It
I’ve made it in a myriad of ways, including but not limited to with fried egg, with soft boiled egg, with coriander or spring onion, with cheese (had to try it). I’ve also made bread using Indomie and prison-style burritos. Today however, I am going to recreate the celebrated INTERNET – Indomie Telur Kornet, which is garnished primarily with corned beef and a fried egg.
The Teardown
Here’s what I could easily get my hands on, an export package of Indomie. These are relatively easy to find in stores near where I live. A case of them are relatively inexpensive as well. At our grocery store near where I live, Indomie costs 99 cents. However if you go a bit farther, you can find a case of 30 packs for around $11.99, which is considerably more economical. As this is the export version, there is information on the package in different languages. Also, this might be a slightly different version than found in Indonesia locally. Sometimes I’ve seen a sachet of chili powder. Sometimes it isn’t present. The standard compliment are three sachets of sauce, two dry sachets, and a block of fried instant noodles.
Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat-free but check for yourself. To prepare, boil 400ml water and cook noodles for 3 minutes. Drain. Add sachet contents to a plate (I generally cook the noodles in the pot, drain, return to a pot and add sachets to it). Finally, stir and combine – and enjoy!
The noodle block. This is a fried noodle.
A dual sachet of bumbu (seasoning) and bawang goreng) fried onion. Look – you’re learning a little Indonesian, aren’t you!
Finally, we have the wet sachets. It should be noted that these can be quite messy, but one way to make it slightly easier is to cut them
Finished (click to enlarge). Added fried egg, corned beef (fried with curry, garlic powder and scallion), fried garlic, line slices, and coriander. Indomie is definitely something you’ll understand once you’ve tried it when it comes to how good it is. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who doesn’t find it just wonderful stuff and I’ve met a lot of instant noodle afficionados. The noodles marry so well with the seasonings and imparts a oily mouthfeel with a light but sturdy fried noodle. The flavor is just pure mastery by Nunuk Nuraini; basically a sweet, spicy, savory, and salty element combination that sings a song of an exotic land full of radiant cultural traditions, music, and flavor. A real juggernaut, this one. I’ve loved it for decades and still do. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars.
Where Can I Get Indomie Mi Goreng?
Pretty much any Asian grocery store will have at least the original Mi Goreng, however they may have other varieties as well. It should be noted that not all varieties of Indomie are soupless – some do indeed have soup so it’s important to read the directions on the packaging. I’ve had conversations with numerous individuals that decided the correct way to prepare their Mi Goreng was as a soup. This is not the case. That would be like making a bowl of spaghetti and marinara sauce and dumping a cup of boiling water in it and stirring it up. No good. Here are a couple options from Amazon – a big box of the variety mentioned as the subject of this post.
Indomie Mi Goreng Instant Stir Fry Noodles
Parting Thoughts
It’s been really nice delving into a variety that has been a true favorite over the years. It’s the second variety I really became a fanatic over. It should be said that Indonesians are particularly proud of this stuff. Every time I come out with a top ten list, they demand to know why it’s not on there. They ask if I’ve ever tried it. They demand some form of explanation. What I tell them is that I’ve tried over 4000 varieties of instant noodles and of them, Indomie is definitely one of my favorites. If I made a top fifty list, it’d definitely be in there, but I don’t. This generally isn’t good enough for them, but it’s all I’ve got. I’ve tried some spectacular instant noodle varieties over the years and many of those can’t fit into the top tens. Anyways, let me just finish by saying this – I would most certainly not complain if I were on a deserted island and the only thing I had was a chicken coop full of eggs and an endless supply of Indomie.
