Char Kway Teow was first introduced to me by my mom thanks to her Malaysian influence. The very first time I had this dish was in Chung Wah - Koramangala back in the late 90s. It took more than a decade later until I moved to Sydney to have a try again. Sydney as some may know has got a pretty decent collection of Malaysian restaurants.This was one of the dishes I tried either on the first or 2nd visit.9/10 times I have been always impressed with the outcomes no matter where I go. Only once was I disappointed when they gave me some soupy version of Kway Teow. That's when I learnt the importance of "char" - which meant stir-fried. Since then I've had it several times in Sydney and in Singapore (few times in Malaysia as well). Of course have experimented cooking this many a times with varied rates of success. After a long time tried it again today to give Mommy a taste of her childhood favourite. The most authentic version will include pork and pork related ingredients that I don't use. So here's a Chetty's Kitchen version.
Ingredients:
- Flat rice noodles - preferably the fresh version you can get from the Chinese stores (not the one from your regular grocery chain)
- Garlic - minced
- Chives - chopped across its length
- Bean Sprouts
- Red Onions
- Eggs - beaten
- Prawns (Shrimps - if you are on the Western part of the world)
- Dark Soya Sauce
- Sweet Soya Sauce (Kecap Manis)
- Oyster Sauce
- Prawn Sambal
- Salt
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
You can skip the prawns and prawn sambal should you prefer an Eggetarian version.
The Method:
- Heat a large wok with a few table spoons of vegetable oil. Let it heat up until you can see the smoke coming out.
- Add the beaten eggs and stir fry for a few seconds.
- Add the minced garlic, onions and the bottom part of the chives
- Stir fry for about 30 seconds.
- Add prawns (or other veggies should you prefer), prawn sambal sauce and stir fry until almost cooked.
- Add the flat rice noodles, dark soya sauce, kecap manis and the oyster sauce (just a little) and toss in the noodles until it gets mixed well.
- Add salt and half a tea spoon of sugar.
- When it's almost done, add in the remaining chives and bean sprouts and toss it around for a minute.
- Leave the noodles in the wok for a few minutes for them to get a bit of "burnt"flavour.
- Toss them all up again to get an even mix.
- Serve hot garnished with chives.
Char Kway Teow Ready!!
Happy Cooking
C
