Bami Kip

Despite the exotic name, this is a simple dish of chicken and fried noodles, of Javanese origin, and made popular in Suriname by migrant workers who came from Java island to Suriname in the 19th century as contract labourers.

It is extremely popular in Suriname and also in Holland, and is often eaten at birthday parties.

Ingredients
(serves 6-8 people)

For the chicken:
4 chicken legs (each cut into 3 pieces)
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tomato
2 Maggi bouillon blocks

1 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 5cm piece of fresh Ginger or 1 tsp of Dried Ginger
1 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Tomato Puree
1 pinch of Salt
1 tsp Adjinomoto (MSG)
3 Tbsp Ketjap Manis (Indonesian sweet Soy Sauce)
1 Tbsp Sunflower Oil for frying
4 or 5 All Spice berries (Pimento) or 1 tsp Pimento powder
1 Madame Jeanette chili pepper

For the Noodles:
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 Handful of Celery leaves
500g Spaghetti
2 Tbsp Ketjap Manis
3 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce or Bami Sauce
3 Tbsp Sunflower Oil for frying
1 pinch of Salt
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Adjinomoto (MSG)

Method

Clean the chicken legs thoroughly and remove the skin (keeping it healthy people!). Chop each leg into 3 pieces, and pat dry. Heat 1 Tbsp sunflower oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot and fry the chicken pieces on a medium-high heat until they are nicely browning. Chop 1/2 an onion and 2 cloves of garlic finely and add these to the chicken. Chop 1 tomato into small pieces and add this as well. Stir well to prevent burning and turn heat down slightly.

Add the Pimento berries, crumbled Maggi blocks, black pepper, MSG, salt, five spice powder, ginger, tomato ketchup and tomato puree to the chicken and stir well. Add the ketjap manis and the Madame Jeanette and put the lid on the pot. This should simmer gently for about 35-45 minutes. Stir from time to time to prevent burning and be careful that the Madame Jeanette pepper does not break up. If it does, remove immediately. The Madame Jeanette is used for the flavour more than the heat, so as long as it stays whole this is fine.

In the mean time, put a large pot of water on to boil, add a pinch of salt. When the water has boiled, add the spaghetti and cook according to the instructions on the packet. Everyone has their own tricks for cooking spaghetti, so do what you usually would do.

When the spaghetti is cooked al denté (still a little firm to the bite) drain thoroughly and rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process.Use a colander or sieve to remove any excess water from the spaghetti.

Take a large heavy bottomed pot or wok and place over a medium-high heat. Add 3 Tbsp sunflower oil.
Finely chop 1/2 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and the sprigs of celery leaves. Fry the onion gently until soft, then add the garlic and celery and lower the heat. Add the dark soy sauce/bami sauce and stir well to prevent burning. Now add the drained spaghetti and stir continuously. Sprinkle the black pepper, salt and MSG over the spaghetti noodles and finally add the ketjap manis/sweet soy sauce. Keep stirring until all the noodles have a nice brown colour. The bami should be ready in 6-8 minutes.

Serve with cucumber in vinegar (zuur) and prawn crackers (kroepoek)

Optional: you can add some bean sprouts to the bami right at the end, and serve with a table spoon of Indonesian  peanut (saté) sauce.

A good drink to accompany this meal would be Fernandes soft drink (got to be the Cherry Bouquet!) or a glass of cola. Alternatively, a nice cold beer.

I don't really go in for calorie counts and everything, but as a hint, this is fried noodles with fried chicken, so don't expect it to be too healthy!!!

Njang Switi. Enjoy!!