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Char Kuey Teow (炒粿條/Penang Fried Flat Noodles)
November 3rd, 2009Malaysian Food, Recipes, Malaysian Recipes, Penang Food, Recipes116 Comments
When it comes to Penang hawker food/street food, there are a few dishes that are chart-toppers: Penang Assam Laksa, Hokkien Prawn Noodles, and Char Kuey Teow. It’s hard to decide which one is the most popular, but if you go to Penang, you won’t—and don’t want to—miss these three stellar hawker food.
Char Kuey Teow is basically flat rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, bloody cockles, Chinese lap cheong (sausage), eggs, bean sprouts, and chives in a mix of soy sauce. A great serving of Char Kuey Teow is flavored not only with the freshest ingredients, but equally important is the elusive charred aroma from stir-frying the noodles over very high heat in a well-seasoned Chinese wok.
The mouthwatering aroma is the “wok hei” or breath of wok. If you’ve been to Penang and walk on streets where there are Char Kuey Teow hawkers, you’ll know what I mean. A great Char Kuey Teow beckons you from blocks away; the tempting aroma fills the air and lure diners in from afar. The very thought of that smell is enough to set my stomach rumbling…(Get Char Kuey Teow recipe and step-by-step picture guide after the jump)
While Char Kuey Teow can be found throughout Malaysia, the Penang version reigns supreme. I’ve heard many stories about tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and beyond who trek religiously to Penang for a satisfying meal of the dish. Somehow, Char Kuey Teow from outside of Penang is simply an inferior shadow of the real stuff—lack of wok hei, too dark in color, and/or wrong taste and texture. And that’s the very reason why Malaysians from out-of-state would go to Penang—just to have a plate of Char Kuey Teow.
Char Kuey Teow is one the most requested recipes on Rasa Malaysia. I have readers who’ve been begging me to post my Char Kuey Teow recipe since three years ago. Great things, especially a perfect recipe, is worth waiting for. Of course I’ve made Char Kuey Teow many times, but I wanted to share the ultimate Char Kuey Teow recipe, and this is it.
So, what are my secrets?
- Get the freshest ingredients—fresh and crunchy bean sprouts, freshly-made noodles, big, fat, succulent shrimp/prawn, bloody cockles (I love my Char Kuey Teow with them, without them, it’s not quite the same!), etc.
- Wonder why the prawn in Penang Char Kuey Teow are always so succulent, juicy, and sweet? I believe some of the most famous stalls treat their prawn with sugar and ice water, or perhaps they are just very fresh.
- Use lard if you can. That’s the secret for the rich silky taste.
- Very hot wok.
- Control your timing of cooking and hence control your “wok hei.”
Without further ado, here is my secret Char Kuey Teow recipe and a detailed step-by-step picture guide that everyone is waiting for. Char Kuey Teow is seriously scrumptious and I don’t see why it can’t be as popular and well-known as Pad Thai and the likes on the global stage. I strongly believe that one day, the world will discover the delicacy that is Penang’s Char Kuey Teow.
(Click Page 2 for the Char Kuey Teow Recipe)
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Firstly, I absolutely LOVE your website. It has all of the dishes that I loved in Asia. Secondly, Char Kuey Teow is my home comfort from Malaysia and can’t wait to try and make it!!
I’ll definitely be back very soon!
S
http://notjustmedical.wordpress.com
Thank you ! CKT from home -tried it and LOVED it.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I have tried making CKT at home a few times. It comes out pretty OK but still missing something, like you say, the wok hei. Did you cook this at home? I think that it’s not possible to cook as delicious as the hawker stalls because of this missing wok hei. How do you compensate for this? What kind of wok do you use? I guess you use gas stove instead of electric? Just wondering. Thanks for sharing! Love your blog!
Well, I heat up my wok until it’s smoking hot and yes, I use gas stove.
you’ll probably need a cast iron wok to retain the heat, especially when using electric stoves.
ive watched how the made it hawker style in penang..exactly like yours..
and i believe urs tasted the same :)
man now im hungry!!!!
char kuey teow penang style is the best!! and correct, i wonder y they’re not famous like pad thai..
now i want char kuey teow..hope i can somehow try it here in germany…first need to find the ingredients!!
Finally I got my Chow Kuey Teow right by following your receipe,thankyou. To John who wants to know how to soften the flat noodles. I put it in the microwave oven for two minutes to soften it. I usually buy a couple of flat noodles and leave them in my fridge for a week and they come out good after warming in the microwave oven.
By the way, I do not receive your receipes anymore. I look forward to your new receipes because they are so good! I am ready to cook something for Chinese New Year from your receipes. A very Happy and Healthy Chinese New Year to you and your crew.
Dorothy
Wah RM!… HOU KHENG ah…!!…. Been craving for CKT, now this post makes me crave for it even more…… :p Have to go find flat noodles and try some wok hei.. just hoping that I will the trigger the smoke alarm.. mISS Penang food so bad.. Thank you so much !!!!!!
*Correction* I will NOT trigger the alarm… sorry..
this title caught my attention. Cha Kuey Teow which means fried noodles in Teochew hehe
Thanks for posting this recipe! I’m a big fan of RasaMalaysia website. I’m an Indonesian but I grew up in Singapore and CharKueyTeow is definitely one of my fave dishes. Now I can try and cook this at home.
Thank you very much for this char kwey teow recipe. I have tried many versions, but for me, this one beats them all. The method is so uncomplicated. Prepared it for lunch yesterday….it was a success.
Grace – thank you. I love my recipe, too. It’s almost like eating at my favorite CKT hawker stall. I will need to fry it with lard the next time. :)
It’s one of the best Malaysian favorites to introduce to our foreign friends
wow,uniknya malaysia!!!
looks so good! was just wondering…for the soy sauce, is it kicap pekat or can i use the usual kicap manis/masin…eg. kicap cap habhal type? can’t wait to try it out!
Kicap manis is fine. Habhal is fine.
Hi, I love to eat Char Kuey Teow and I really want to have a go at your recipe. I have a few questions regarding some of the ingredients: is it Malaysian soy sauce/dark soy sauce? I don’t think I’ve come across it in london…can I use indonesian kecap manis instead or is that the same thing? Thanks!
Yes, you can use kecap manis but it will be sweeter.
Hi, me again! I went looking for malaysian dark soy sauce but was unable to find it so will use kecap manis instead – would you suggest to adjust any of the other flavourings to make it less sweeter and more smokier? This recipe also requires soy sauce – is that regular (chinese?) soy sauce? Thanks!
Yes on the soy sauce. For the dark soy sauce, just cook it to your taste.
Cooked it according to your steps, what can I say? It’s delicious! Technique is indeed the key, thank you, Bee for sharing. To those of you who haven’t try it, this is very worth trying and you won’t be disappointed for sure!
i saw somewhere on a cooking show before that restaurants pan fry the kuey teow with some oil to brown it slightly before frying it. This supposedly adds more flavor to it. But i think it was a recipe for “wat tan hor”. Can that be applied to char kuey teow as well? I tried pan frying the kuey teow and the kuey teow stuck together into clumps.
Street food is the yummiest, not to mention a great way to experience a country’s culture. I wish I had a wok to try out this recipe!
hiya, i wonder if you could please tell me how to make the chili paste pls? thank you in advanced!!!
Hi Bee
Love your recipes. A big Thank you from Australia.
Our whole family LOVES Char Kwey Teow so it is terrific to finally see your recipe. Thanks.
Do you or any readers have tips for a good Malaysian restaurant in the northern LA area? My husband visits there a few times a year and has yet to locate one. He’s missing his Laksa and CKT. :-)
Thanks again
Beth
That is one marvelous dish! So flavorful and beautiful. A combination of ingredients that is impossible to resist.
Cheers,
Rosa
Good point about why isn’t char koay teow as popular as pad thai. I’m surprised people know more about Thai food than Malaysian food since Malaya was a British colony, so the West was more exposed to Malaysian culture than Thai. I guess since Thailand tourism exploded in the last 20 years is probably the reason Thai food is more well known now.
But it’s hard to replicate the char koay teow in Penang. Just ask Singapore…
This is a funny comment, cracks me up!
I have been following your recipes they work wonderfully. It would be great if the number of serving is provided.
This serves 2 people.
I have searched everywhere for “the perfect” way to make Char Kway Teow, and this turned out perfectly. I’ve tried to make Char Kway Teow, like 15 times before and they turned out horribly. Following this recipe made a most amazing home cooked Char Kway Teow.
After cooking it several times I began experimenting with non traditional additions. Being portugeuse I introduced some finely chopped linguica and that added a very interesting kick. Thank so much for sharing this recipe!
u tear me … i want to cry looking at all this delicious food .. im in far far away land … sob sob
hello there
I am just wondering what sort of wok do you use?
Thanks
Yvonne
I dont know how to thank you for that amazing recipes , love you all my heart, i beg you for one more thing if you know of corse ,some penang fried rice recipes, thank you again
European addicted to asian food, good food and that here is definitely good
Hi Bee and first thanksfor your super-duper website I just found.
Having studied at Penang (USM) for semester, me and my morrocan flatmate fell totally in love with Char Keow Teow ! I think we ate that every 2 days minimum! Of course I generally love the food in Malaysia, the Char Keow Teow remains my all time favorite.
Saddly, there’s 1 malay restaurant in PAris, that doesn’t do my favorite stuff, and the Char Keow Teow in particular.
I tried to cook it a couple of times but it never tastes right. Just ok, but never close to the real thing.
I’ll practice with your recipe, and will go on dreaming about Malaysian Food ! (I miss Malaysia sooo much…)
Myriam