Char Kway Teow is one of popular noodle dish in Malaysia. In Hokkien term, “char” means is fried while the meaning of “kway teow” is flat rice noodles which is the main ingredient in West Malaysia and Singapore. In East Malaysia, many stalls or restaurants are used to ricecake strips to make this dish.
The ingredients for Char Kway Teow are dark or light soy sauce, chilli, whole prawns, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, chinese chives and cockles.
In tradition, stir fried Char Kway Teow with pork fat without egg , crunchy pork lard and serve on a piece of banana leaf or plate to increase the aroma on the noodles. Some stalls are served with other ingredients such as fishcake and chinese waxed sausages to emphasize the taste. Nowadays, a lot of food stalls, food courts or restaurants served with an egg for health or religious reasons. So, you can choose egg as your optional.
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Penang is known as the food paradise in the region as it demonstrates the multicultural mix of the city. You can find low cost hawker and food hunting anytime around Penang. Besides, you can easily find Char Kway Teow in any hawker center as this dish is very popular in Penang. You can enjoy it as lunch, dinner or supper. Their iconic char kway teow is white char kway teow. More light, good balance of savoury, sweet and spicy flavours.
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There is a hawker stall called ‘Siam Road Char Kway Teow’ which cooks with hot coals to attain maximum ‘wok hei’. The meaning of ‘wok hei’ is the flavour and tastes part contributed by wok on food during stir frying. ‘Wok hei’ can only achieved under intense heat conditions that are difficult to achieve without commercial cooking range. The rice noodles are smooth and the cockles are juicy and large. The levels of seasoning and spice levels are acceptable and good. Furthermore, the hawker’s owner also added few crispy pork lard cubes to add more flavors to the dish.
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However, different state will have different names for this dish. In West Malaysia, most of the char kway teow you see from hawker stalls or restaurants were served dried but in East Malaysia especially Sabah, the char kway teow they served were actually what we called Cantonese fried kway teow in the West. They cooked with egg gravy, vegetables, seafood, fishball, fishcakes, fish skins and many other ingredients. If you have a chance to visit Sabah, why not grab this opportunity to try out their char kway teow.
This dish is NON-HALAL.
Price range: RM8-RM12
Source:Char Kway Teow Siam Road Char Kuey Teow
Outlets:
Location: Siam Road Char Kuey Teow
Address: 82, Jalan Siam, George Town, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang
Location: Restaurant Seafood Sim-Sim 88
Address: Lorong H, Jalan Sim-Sim
Location: Happy Family Restaurant
Address: Lorong Avenue 2, IJM 90000, Sandakan, Sabah
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