Char koay teow, literally "stir-fried ricecake strips", is a popular noodle dish in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The dish is considered a national favorite in Singapore. It is made from flat rice noodles (河粉 hé fěn in Chinese) of approximately 1 cm or (in the north of Malaysia) about 0.5 cm in width, stir-fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chilli, a small quantity of belachan, whole prawns, deshelled cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. The dish is commonly stir-fried with egg, slices of Chinese sausage and fishcake, and less commonly with other ingredients. Char kway teow is traditionally stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate. |
Chili Paste:
1 oz. seeded dried red chilies (soak in water) 2 fresh red chilies (seeded) 3 small shallots (peeled and sliced) 1 teaspoon oil A pinch of salt
Sauce (mix and blend well):
5 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 dashes white pepper powder
Other Ingredients:
12 shelled prawn (submerge in ice cold water plus 2 tablespoons sugar for 30 minutes)
1 lb. fresh flat rice noodles (completely loosened and no clumps)
1 lb. bloody cockles (extract the cockles by opening its shell)
2 Chinese sausages (sliced diagonally)
A bunch of fresh bean sprouts (rinsed with cold water and drained)
A bunch of Chinese chives (removed about 1-inch of the bottom section and cut into 2-inch lengths)
3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)