Bami

Bami is a Surinamese stir-fry of wheat noodles with cabbage, carrot, onion and egg, seasoned with soy sauce. It belongs to the Javanese side of Surinamese cooking and is eaten across the country. Its name is usually traced to a Chinese word for noodles, and fried noodle dishes of the same family are also cooked in Indonesia and the Netherlands, so the dish is shared rather than owned by one place.

What it really is

Wheat noodles are boiled until just tender, drained and fried in oil with shredded cabbage, sliced onion and grated carrot. Soy sauce adds colour and salt. Beaten egg is poured into the pan and scrambled among the noodles, so it sets in soft pieces. Many cooks add chicken, shrimp or strips of meat, but the core of the dish is the noodles, vegetables and egg. The result is savoury and salty, with the cabbage kept slightly crisp.

How it's served

• Hot from the pan, as a main meal on a plate or in a bowl.
• Often with sambal, a hot chilli condiment, served on the side so each guest can add their own.
• Usually eaten with a fork or spoon, with the noodles lightly coated in the pan juices.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the protein in the title: "Bami with chicken", "Bami with shrimp", or "Vegetable bami" if there is no meat. Vegetable bami still contains egg.
• Flag wheat in the noodles and in the soy sauce, plus eggs and soy. Shrimp is a crustacean and must be declared separately.
• Ask whether oyster sauce, which contains molluscs, or fish sauce, which contains fish, is used in the seasoning.
• Say how hot the dish is and whether sambal comes with it.