Fried Koay Teow / Char Koay Teow

Today we are going to talk about char koay teow. It is one of many top famous street foods in Penang.

“Char” means fried; “Koay Teow” means rice noodle. It is basically a stir fry noodle with seafood, yet it is much more than that.

It has its signature aroma of charred smokiness (“wok-hei”) when stir frying over a very hot heat/wok and a flavour of sweet and saltiness at the same time; this makes it stand out from the rest of the noodle stir fries.

If you are ever in Penang and stand next to a char koay teow stall, pay attention to the noodles. The “wok-hei” will come when witnessing the “koay teow” “jumping” / “hoping” on the very hot wok when stir frying. It can be very smoky, but the aroma is luring.

There may be many versions of char koay teow in Malaysia; however, this is my Penang version char koay teow from Australia. There are a few ingredients that I don’t use for this recipe – which is pork lard and cockles, however, the rest of the ingredients remain the same.

The secrets to a super nice char koay teow are:

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp cooking oil
4 large prawns – shelved and deveined (add more if desired)
1 clove garlic – chopped finely
1/2 tsp preserved radish
1 packet koay teow (fresh flat rice noodle ) – loosen noodles
½ packet bean sprouts – wash and drained
Fried koay teow sauce or (alternatively 2 Tbsp mushroom flavoured sauce & 2 Tbsp light soy sauce)
1 bunch garlic chives – wash, drain and pat dry – cut into 2cm strips
1 egg
1 tsp chili paste (optional)
1/2 Chinese sausage (optional)
Note: You can always add fish balls to the dish as well.

 Methods:

  1. Heat wok and add cooking oil.
  2. Once oil is heated, add garlic and preserved radish and stir fry for 5 seconds; add prawns, Chinese sausage (optional), chili (optional) and continue stir frying for another 5 seconds.
  3. Add rice noodles; stir fry vigorously for 1 minute to prevent rice noodle sticking onto the pan; add char koay teow sauce while stir frying. Note: Wok must be hot – i.e. you will know when wok is hot as the noodles are “jumping” on the wok. ** Note you may need a bit of soy sauce – go with your taste.
  4. Add bean sprouts; stir fry with rice noodle for 10 seconds.
  5. Move rice noodles to the side of the pan, and add 1 Tbsp oil and add egg. Break the egg yolk, then move the rice noodles from the side of pan/wok to cover the egg for about 10 seconds.
  6. Add garlic chives and stir well to make sure all ingredients are well cooked.
  7. Serve hot!

Ingredients you need:

Flat rice noodles, prawns, bean sprouts, garlic chives, bean sprouts and Chinese saugage

Number of people: 1
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Cook’s note: Char Koay Teow tastes nicer if you fry individual dishes one at a time.

The Char Koay Teow sauce that I use:

Penang famous Rose Brand Char Koay Teow Sauce

This sauce is perfected to make frying char koay teow a breeze. It is the exact flavour that you would want – a perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness. Just add this sauce, and don’t worry about the other sauces!

You can order through Nyonyalicious Online Store!