Char kuey teow, oh my god, char kuey teow. It’s always one of the first things I eat when I go home to Malaysia. Char kuey teow is in that magic category of ‘anytime foods’ and to make it even better, the hawker food court near mum’s house is home to Robert’s, arguably the best in all of the PJ area. N is famously known to not share his Robert’s char kuey teow, and sometimes, to even eat two large servings in the one sitting.
With all the trimmings, this dish has prawns, cockles (blood clams), fish cake, lap cheong (sweetened chinese sausage), egg, bean sprouts, garlic chives and my favourite – crispy bits of rendered, deep fried pork fat – but you need to be in the know, and in Robert’s selected few to get the pork fat. Good char kuey teow is all about technique, but with a bit of practice and some ingredients from your local Asian grocer you can make a very authentic version at home. It’s an easy weeknight meal or a quick lunch if you have all the ingredients to hand.
Bee has a helpful tutorial on her blog here, where she makes everything including the chilli paste from scratch. I’ve just opted to use sambal oelek in a jar for convenience – using fresh chillies means that the heat level can vary. I learnt that the hard way when a perfectly decent plate of kuey teow was declared inedible due to heat levels. Substitute or omit ingredients as you see fit – thinly sliced chicken works as a substitute for chinese sausage. I’ve omitted the cockles in my recipe below because I’m allergic to them, and also not included traditional pork fat because it takes aaages to render – but if you’re game you can do it using this guide. If you’re adding the crispy pork fat, add it just at the very end.
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil, or if you're feeling brave, pork fat
- 4 cloves garlic, very finely diced
- 1 lap cheong (chinese sausage) thinly sliced on the diagonal
- half a long fish cake, thinly sliced
- 9 fresh prawns, shelled with the tail on
- 1 packet bean sprouts
- 4 tsp sambal oelek
- 4 eggs
- small handful of Chinese flat chives, cut into 2" lengths
- 1 packet flat rice noodles, 'stir fry' type
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons Cheong Chan cooking caramel, or dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
- Start by making the sauce - mix all ingredients in a small bowl, making sure to use hot water so that the sugar dissolves.
- Cut up all your ingredients and have them within easy reach - divide each into four equal portions. You'll be making individual serves, so you'll need to do it all four times. You want all the ingredients to have about 10 seconds in the pan before you add the next - ready?
- Heat your wok until it's smoking, then add 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
- Add the diced garlic and stir through for about 5 seconds, then add the chinese sausage, fish cake and prawns. Stir.
- Add the sambal oelek and mix through quickly.
- Add the bean sprouts and stir again.
- Add the noodles into the wok and stir again.
- Push the ingredients to one side, and crack one egg into the wok - stir the egg vigorously to break into small chunks, then use the other ingredients to cover the egg - wait for ten seconds for the egg to cook through and stir everything together.
- Add 1-1½ tbsp of the mixed sauce into the wok and toss through. Add chives, stir to combine and quickly dish out onto a plate. Serve while hot.
If you're doing this for the first time, turn your wok down to just below a high heat so that you the ingredients don't accidentally catch and burn.
Cook each portion separately or they ingredients won't have the wok hei taste.
When choosing your noodles, look for the flat rice noodles labelled 'stir fry' as they're designed to be cooked in a wok rather than in a soup
You can get all the ingredients required at a decent Asian grocer - trust me I live in Canberra. What you can't get, substitute as you see fit (this does not mean chorizo for lap cheong).
Lap cheong is a sweetened chinese sausage with a decent amount of fat in it - most people I've fed it to have liked it despite never having tasted anything like it before, but it's a matter of personal taste I guess.
Real char kuey teow should be lightly coloured as shown in the above picture - not dark brown like a lot of Asian restaurants do it.
Serve it hot - straight from the wok.
Fantastic post. Love the blog.
*blush* thanks!
Hi! Nice to see another Malaysian in Canberra doing the home-made CKT! I’ve been doing a very similar way to your method, but often run into the problem of the garlic burning (even within 5 seconds). That of course adds a nasty charcoal taste and black colour. Any ideas? cheers
Not much great CKT to be had in Canberra, hey? Gap in the market, maybe? Just make sure you use an oil with a high smoke point – peanut, vegetable or rice bran and enough oil so the garlic doesn’t catch on the wok. Then it’s just making sure you stir it so that it doesn’t have a chance to burn.
Hi Tash, Have you tried Pappa Rich in civic? Went there on Saturday night. Their CKT was rather good. I told them not to make it too dark (after reading your article) :). Any idea where you can get cockles btw? cheers
Satz
I haven’t seen cockles in Canberra, I must admit. I’ll definitely be trying PappaRich’s CKT though 🙂
Am off to Sydney soon so will see if i can find canned cockles in Chinatown there! Have you tried making Hainan Chicken rice at home? That’s another dish that I can’t find a good version of in CBR. I’ve been making that at home with fairly good success 🙂
Love Hainanese chicken rice! But I tend to like the roast one, and that’s a bit more work.
You like the roast version hm? Sorry but we can’t get married then as I like the steamed one. Too much work!