kale noodles — Jakarta, Indonesia

Kale noodles, known locally as mie kangkung, is a noodle and vegetable soup built around kangkung, or water spinach, simmered until tender in a thickened broth. Yellow wheat noodles sit at the bottom of the bowl, covered with the vegetable and a glossy, slightly gelatinous soup bound with tapioca starch. It is a specialty of Betawi cuisine, the food culture of Jakarta's indigenous inhabitants, and is sold widely from street carts and small eateries across the Indonesian capital. It is typically eaten as a light lunch or evening snack, often alongside other Betawi noodle dishes. The broth starts from a chicken or beef stock, seasoned with garlic and kecap manis, the sweet soy sauce common in Indonesian cooking, then thickened with a tapioca slurry until it turns glossy. Kangkung is blanched briefly so it keeps some bite, and the bowl is filled with yellow noodles, meatballs known as bakso, bean sprouts, mushrooms and halved quail eggs, all covered in the hot broth. The finishing touches vary between vendors: some scatter fried shallots and a squeeze of kaffir lime juice over the top, others add a spoon of chili sambal on the side or extra bakso and offal. The balance of sweetness from the kecap manis against the tang of lime and the heat of sambal is adjusted to each cook's taste, and some stalls serve the noodles dry with the broth on the side instead of poured over.