A Makassar specialty of thin egg noodles deep-fried into a crisp golden tangle, then napped at the table with a thick, glossy chicken-and-seafood gravy. The sauce carries sliced chicken, prawns, squid, liver and greens, and is bound with a starch slurry into which a beaten egg is swirled, leaving silky ribbons. Eaten at once, the gravy softens the top layer of noodles while the bottom stays shatteringly crisp. It is one of Makassar's signature night-time dishes.
Mie Titi grew out of Makassar's Chinese-Indonesian community, where a vendor named Ang Kho Tjao sold a dried, crisp-fried noodle that gained a following in the city through the early 1970s. He passed the recipe to his three children — Hengky, Awa' and Titi — who each later ran their own noodle houses. Titi's became the best known, and over time her name attached itself to the whole dish, so that 'Mie Titi' is now shorthand in Makassar for this crispy noodle. It sits within the broader Indonesian family of crisp-fried noodles known generically as mie kering.
The first forkful crackles — a nest of noodles fried hard and brittle, edged with toasted-wheat flavour. Then the gravy soaks in: savoury, faintly sweet, thick enough to cling, studded with prawn and squid and threaded with egg. The contrast is the whole point — crisp giving way to soft, the sauce reaching the dry centre while the rim still snaps.
The raw noodles are blanched, dried, then deep-fried so the surface dehydrates and sets into a rigid, glassy crisp that resists sogging. The gravy is thickened with a cornstarch slurry to a pourable but coating consistency; a beaten egg drizzled into the hot sauce sets instantly into fine threads, adding body and gloss. Sauce and noodles meet only at serving, so the textural contrast survives to the table.
Variations
The same crisp base is also served 'mie basah,' with a softer boiled noodle instead of fried; toppings range from chicken and seafood to liver and meatballs. Some stalls offer a spicier gravy or extra chili-and-lime sambal on the side, and home cooks vary the seafood by what is fresh.
On the Palate
Where Mie Titi sits in the Indonesian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 13 min
Blanch the egg noodles briefly, drain well and spread to dry.
- 26 min
Deep-fry the noodles in hot oil until golden and crisp; drain and keep on a plate.
Watch outFry the noodles until rigid and glassy-crisp — this hard shell is what lets them resist sogging once the gravy hits.
- 35 min
Stir-fry garlic, then chicken slices, prawns and squid until just cooked.
- 44 min
Add stock, sliced liver and greens; season with soy and salt and bring to a simmer.
- 53 min
Stir in a cornstarch slurry and cook until the gravy turns thick and glossy.
- 61 min
Drizzle in beaten egg while stirring so it sets into fine threads.
- 71 min
Set the crisp noodle nest on a plate.
- 81 min
Pour the hot gravy over the noodles and serve immediately.
Watch outSauce and noodles meet only at the table — pour ahead and the crisp nest turns to paste.
