Javanese
Bami: Javanese-Surinamese fried noodles
Surinamese bami is a Javanese-Surinamese dish of fried noodles with chicken, cabbage and kecap manis, sweeter and darker than Indonesian bami goreng. A plate in a warung typically costs SRD 60 to SRD 140.
Flavour and texture
Sweet-savoury from the kecap, soft in texture. Sambal sits beside it, not in it.
Street price, indicative SRD 60–140
Surinamese bami came with the Javanese indentured labourers and has picked up more kecap manis and less chilli than the Indonesian version. It is darker, sweeter and softer.
Chicken is standard, with cabbage, carrot and leek. A fried egg often lands on top and prawn crackers beside it. In a Chinese eating house the same idea is called tjauw min and is different again: less sweet, more soy.
Two migrations sit behind that single plate. The Javanese indentured labourers came to Suriname from 1890, close to 33,000 people up to 1939, and brought bami with them. The wheat noodle itself is Chinese in origin and had been at home in Java for centuries, and Suriname already had a Chinese community: the first Chinese labour migrants arrived from 1853, before the abolition of slavery in 1863.
In Paramaribo those two lines sit side by side on the street. The warung in Blauwgrond makes the dark, sweet bami heavy with kecap manis; the Chinese eating house on the corner makes tjauw min, less sweet and built on soy. The same noodle, two histories, both at roughly SRD 60 to SRD 140.
Bami is also party food: at birthdays there is usually a large dish of it next to the pom.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Surinamese and Indonesian bami?
Surinamese bami is sweeter and darker because more kecap manis goes in, and considerably milder, the sambal is served separately. Indonesian bami goreng carries more chilli and shrimp paste in the dish itself. A plate of Surinamese bami costs SRD 60 to SRD 140 in a warung.
What is tjauw min?
Tjauw min is the Chinese-Surinamese take on fried noodles: less sweet than the Javanese-Surinamese bami and built more on soy sauce. You find it in the Chinese eating houses of Paramaribo.
What is bami?
Bami is the Surinamese dish of fried wheat noodles with chicken, cabbage, carrot and leek, dark and sweet with kecap manis, usually under a fried egg with prawn crackers beside it. A plate in a warung costs SRD 60 to SRD 140.
Where does Surinamese bami come from?
From the Javanese indentured labourers brought to Suriname from 1890, close to 33,000 people up to 1939. The noodle itself is Chinese in origin, and Suriname already had a Chinese community: the first Chinese labour migrants arrived from 1853.
Can you get bami vegetarian?
Not as standard: chicken is almost always in it and the sauce can contain trassi (shrimp paste). The Blauwgrond warungs will make bami without meat if you ask, but petjil, at SRD 50 to SRD 120, is the safer vegetarian order.