Foodie

Friday, September 01, 2006

Char Kway Teow

How can i miss posting this classic of all classics hawker food in Malaysia. The best Char Kway Teow is the old fashion ones which is darker and only egg added besides the other necessary ingredients. My preference would be fried without the egg cos when egg is added, the temperature of the noodles drops and i like the noodles to be piping hot and with 'sung hum(uncooked cockles). This luxury of cockles is not possible here, i have seen frozen ones but i certainly will not buy them. The Penang style is what the hawkers are dishing out and more acceptable as the ingredients of chinese Lap Cheong and Prawns are added. Crab meat can also be added of which a store in Penang does and became the store that served the best Char Kway Teow. To me, best is fried with lard and a huge spoonful of goody that is the reminence of the fried lard. it might not be too healthy but once in a while???????


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Ingredients:


1/2 lb kway teow
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 - 5 prawns,
3 - 5 thinly sliced Chinese sausage
150g cockles, scalded and shelled (if available fresh then this is a must)
a handful of beansprouts
3 sprigs of chives, cut into 2 inch lengths

1 egg

Seasoning:
1 tbsp Chilli paste(sambal olek)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
Pepper to taste
A little dark soya sauce for colour
A little water

Method:

Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil until hot and fry Chinese sausages until fragrant, then add l tsp chopped garlic . Add about prawns and fry until cooked.

Push all the fried ingredients to one side and add in kway teow. Stir-fry the kway teow and add seasoning and sprinkle with a little water to mix.

Spread all the ingredients around the kuali and create an empty space in the centre, then crack an egg into it and add a little more oil. Cover the egg with all the ingredients and stir-fry evenly. Add cockles if desired and mix in a handful of beansprouts and the chives. Do not overcook.

Remove the dish to a plate and serve hot.

Serves

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thks for the listing the recipe. Been looking on how to do char kway teow...

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily So yummy. Can I have some.

Anonymous said...

hey! this is a very wonderful stumble to your blog. i'm a malaysian in maryland and having been here for 32 months, your blog will be my fav cookbook!

thanks for posting the delicious comfort food from home.

one question: do you know how to make 'chee cheong fun' from scratch?

-ipoh-kl gal

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe. I'll try this next. I think the best Char Kway Teow is from Penang. The street vendors use oil derived from pig skin, which I believe is called lard. I don't believe you can get the same effect with regular "healthy" oil ;-) Sure, a plate of Char Kway Teow is a heart attack on a plate but it's way too good to pass up.

Unknown said...

ipoh-kl gal

I have been and is still trying to perfect the traditional type of chee cheong fun which is more fluffy and firmer than the hong kong type which is served in most dim sum places.

will post as soon as i am satisfied with what i dish out.

Anonymous said...

Lily:
Have you found anything that simulates lard? Or is there truly no substitute?

Unknown said...

speedolight

in terms of flavor, lard has a better mouthfeel, but dish has to be eaten hot.

Rendered chicken fat is very flavorful too but somehow i will only use this for hainanese chicken rice.

Butter is too strong for asian cooking.

For my everyday cooking, i use sunflower oil and flavor with alot of garlic or ginger

Gwendolynne said...

Aunty LiPert where to find Dark Soy Sauce here? Maybe you can ship me some from Colorado? Ha ha ... cheaper than asking my dad to send from KL >:(

Anonymous said...

Lily:
Totally agree with you that butter is too heavy for Chinese food. It adds an after taste that doesn't work for most Chinese food.

Do you use pig skin for your lard? We've never done this before. Seen it done by street vendors but never done it at home.

Your pic of the Char Kway Teow looks amazing. I am concerned that ours will turn out to look/taste like Char Kway Teow and not just regular fried Hor Fun. What's your secret? I looked at the ingredients, etc. and it's easy to "accidentally" make the dish turn out tasting like fried Hor Fun instead of the yummy Penang Char Kway Teow.

Anonymous said...

Lily:
I've seen a few Char Kway Teow recipes call for oyster sauce. Is that good fr this dish? Please advise for I don't want to ruin my experiment with this yummy dish. LOL! :-)

Unknown said...

speedolight

i certainly will not add oyster sauce perhaps a dash of fish sauce. plain old black soya sauce and light soya sauce is the way to go. sprinkle alot of white pepper before serving.

Anonymous said...

We tested this dish tonight. VERY HIGH heat is definitely one of the secrets. We threw away our first batch because we didn't have the heat high enough and had put a little bit too much oil. The noodles were clinging to the oil. When we turned up the high on the 2nd batch, it looking like the dish in your photo. HIGH and fast heat is hard to achieve on an electric stove. Given the high heat, you have to work very quickly as the noodles are in for a very short time before you start having to throw in your sauce, etc. It's easy to burn your dish because the heat is high. To summarize: high heat, work fast.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

It's me, baybee again. I tried your loh mai kai and apam balik recipe today. It's definitely worth trying, they came out perfect. My hubby loves it~ Thanks for providing such a good site/ recipes.

May i ask whether i can omit the chilli paste for this? Will it still taste good without the chilli paste?

baybee :)

Unknown said...

baybee

of course you can omit the chilli paste, it is only a preference, you know how malaysians like their char kwai teow extra pedas

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,
Great recipe. I tried this and the first plate I put in a bit too much water and the kway teow turned out bit soggy.
Then the next plate I just toss in like 2 tbsp water and it turned out ok. Can't find cockles...

Nick

Unknown said...

nick

the little sprinkle of water is to create steam so that the noodle loosen up and get heated through

i am glad you fried plate by plate and could learn from your mistake sprinkling the right amount of water depends on the situation of the noodle - fresh, refrigerated etc

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, what a pleasure to stumble across your blog! I'm a Penangite in Boston. Can you recommend your favorite brands of soy sauce? I use Dark Kim Lan for my dark soy sauce but have yet to find a good light soy sauce. Also, what brand of fish sauce do you use?

Unknown said...

azalea

i used to buy kikoman but it has gone too expensive and i am now using a korean soya sauce mong go sun soy sauce. For the thick soya sauce i like koon chun and fish sauce - squid brand from thailand

Anonymous said...

Tried this recipe...it's really yummy...better if sliced fishcakes and char siu added as well...tastes even better then.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

amazing to go thru yr marvellous receipe has yet to try. Thought that Char Kway Teow has to use dark sweet sauce, kindly enlighten me.

Thks KK based in Singapore

Unknown said...

kk in singapore

this recipe is char kway teow, penang style which differs from the true hokkien char kway teow which has only cockles and no shrimp and lap cheong. hokkien char kway teow use a lot more of dark soya sauce to make it real black. i love it as i grew up with it.

«¦ cm^ §ŵĕĖtŞüğãŘ ^¦» said...

hi lily,

I am also a Malaysian currently living in Nebraska, US doing my undergraduate studies. I have been craving for char kuey teow for like weeks and I finally found the recipe here! Thanks so much...I will definitely try it out!

nb said...

Hello Aunty Lily,

I live in Wisconsin and the super markets here only carry light Soya sauce. Where can I purchase the dark soya sauce? I am originally from Singapore and cannot locate an online shopping website either to get certain specific ingredients.

I cannot obtain the Kway Teow either. Is it okay if I substituted it with another type of a noodle?

Mila

Unknown said...

mila dechant

you can dark soya sauce from http://mytasteofasia.com.

you can use any noodles of your choice.

Anonymous said...

Do you need to boil or soften the noodles in water before stir frying?

Unknown said...

for who made the stars.

it depends, i am not so lucky as to get fresh rice noodles which has not been in the fridge at all. Once it has been refrigerated, the noodles will be hardened. Steam the noodles until it is piable, hot enough to break up the strands.

Rebecca said...

Hi Lily,

As my fire is not high enough, that's why I seldom fry Char Kway Teow. But I know the secret of the best Char Kway Teow is MUST add in some fish sauce.

Next time you Char Kway Teow, try to add some in one plate and compare, it really makes a great difference.

TiaMaya said...

1/2 lb kway teow
1 tsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp cooking oil
3 - 5 prawns,
3 - 5 thinly sliced Chinese sausage
150g cockles, scalded and shelled (if available fresh then this is a must)
a handful of beansprouts
3 sprigs of chives, cut into 2 inch lengths
1 egg

Seasoning
1 tbsp Chilli paste(sambal olek)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
Pepper to taste
A little dark soya sauce for colour
A little water

Method:

Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil until hot and fry Chinese sausages until fragrant, then add l tsp chopped garlic . Add about prawns and fry until cooked.
Push all the fried ingredients to one side and add in kway teow. Stir-fry the kway teow and add seasoning and sprinkle with a little water to mix.

Spread all the ingredients around the kuali and create an empty space in the centre, then crack an egg into it and add a little more oil. Cover the egg with all the ingredients and stir-fry evenly. Add cockles if desired and mix in a handful of beansprouts and the chives. Do not overcook.

Remove the dish to a plate and serve hot.

mytasteofasia.com













































Lily,
I am unable to find fresh kway teo noodles, is it possible to use the dried noodles like the bee hun noodles?

Thank you for all your recipes, We tried out your roti canai, nasi lemak and also roti boy....it was awesome, my fiance loved it so much and thanks you for the recipes!!!

Unknown said...

eileen

yes, i too have to depend on the dried rice sticks/ you soak the rice sticks with warm water until they are soft but still stiff.

When you fry them, water has to be added and cook the noodles until they are soft just like the fresh ones.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,
What is a good brand of Sambel Olek to buy? I live in the US and there's a 99 Ranch market nearby. Thanks for your help!

Unknown said...

anonymous

i don't have any particular brand, i will buy when it is on sale and adjust the taste accordingly

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