Pork and Mushroom Noodles

Bakmi jamur—noodles topped with pork and mushrooms and sometimes served with fish balls or meatballs—is one of my favorite comfort foods. My siblings and I ate this dish as often as an American kid might eat spaghetti. I’ve always wondered where this dish came from, and in 2022, I got my answer upon my return to Jakarta. When Julia and my dad, Rudy, were dating in the 1960s, they would go to Bakmi Aboen, a hole-in-the-wall eater