Char Kway Teow For Lazy Boys & Girls

Another Malaysian/Singaporean hawker favourite that I have not a hope of duplicating at home, the following recipe is my approximation of this very yummy dish.

Char Kway Teow ( pronounced a bit like – char kortee ow ) is a wok fried meal of flat rice noodle, egg, cockles, beansprouts and Chinese chives, fried in  lard and seasoned with light and dark soy sauce. I have had some fabulous plates of this in Penang where it is an island speciality.

 The best versions are “kissed with  wok hei/chi“ – the breath of the wok, for a smoky intensity of flavour almost impossible to duplicate at home. 

Try the easy version, I think you’ll be happy with the result. It’s certainly a family favourite around here.

Quantities here are approximate and can be adjusted to suit availability and personal taste. This quantity made 4 big serves, with a little bowl of leftovers.

• 1kg fresh rice noodle – you’ll usually find these in the fridge at the Asian grocers and in some supermarkets

• 6 pieces of Asian fish-cake, sliced. These chewy, dense fish cakes are found in balls and pattie shapes. Some are white on the outside, some brown. They are already cooked and really just need to be reheated. You’ll find them at the Asian grocers, in the fridge and frozen.
• 2 cups of bean sprouts
• 2 cups of roughly chopped Chinese greens: leaves and stalks – bok-choy or similar. You want to choose one with a tender stalk so that you can use that as well.
• 2 red chillies. Finely chopped
• 2-4 stalks of spring onion. Cut into 2cm lengths. Both the green and the white parts
• 4 big cloves of garlic. Thinly sliced.
• sliced leftover chicken or pork if you fancy. Or some pieces of Chinese sausage.
• 2 lightly beaten eggs if you have any ( I didn’t)
• 1 tablespoon of oil. A neutral oil like canola or peanut

For the sauce you will need:

• 3 tablespoons each of light and dark soy
• 1 dessertspoon of sugar

Now, having said that – use whatever stir-fry sauce you fancy 🙂 I have used bottled “Thai Stir-Fry Sauce”, I have used Guilin Chilli Sauce mixed with soy, and I have used dumpling dipping sauce mixed with a bit of soy! It is fine to improvise.

Here’s what I did:

1. gently sauteed the garlic in the oil until it was start starting the brown
2. I added the fish cake slices, the beanshoots, the spring onion, the greens and the chilli
3. the heat was turned up and I stir-fried the lot until the the veg was crunchy-tender

1. the packet of rice noodle was zapped in the microwave until it was soft. This makes it easier to “untangle” the strands
2. I pushed the veg mixture to one side and put the rice noodle in the pan
3. the two were gradually added and tossed together

1. if you’re adding egg, clear a space in the pan, drop in the eggs and swazzle them about, gradually adding them to the noodle/veg mixture.
2. crank the heat up to high and stir-fry everything for a couple of minutes. You want to try and fry the mixture, not just steam it in the pan
3. when you think you have stir-fried to your liking, add the sauces, turn off the heat and toss the whole lot together well.

I served it up garnished with chopped coriander.