Mie goreng (fried noodle), a wheat-based Chinese dish completely assimilated into Indonesian mainstream cuisine.
Wheat is not a native plant to Indonesia. Through imports and foreign influences — most notably Chinese and Dutch — Indonesians began to develop a taste for wheat-based foodstuff, especially Chinese noodles, Indian roti, and Dutch bread. Other than common steamed rice, the Chinese in Indonesia also considered noodles, bakpao and cakwe as staples. Yet in Indonesia, especially in Java and Sumatra, the rice culture was so prevalent that sometimes these wheat-based dishes, such as noodles are treated as side dishes and are consumed with rice, while others such as Chinese buns and cakwe are treated as snacks. The European, especially the Portuguese and the Dutch, introduced bread and various type of bakery and pastry. These European staples have now become alternatives for a quick breakfast.
