Penang Char Koay Teow 槟城炒粿条: Malaysian Food Fest

If we talk about Penang food everyone will relate it straight to the its famous hawker delights. Among the hawker delights, Char Koay Teow standout a lot from the rest of the food because of its wonderful aroma from the 'wok hei' or the heat from the wok. At here, in Australia you will find Char Koay Teow in the menu list of most  Malaysian or Asian cuisine restaurants! see, this is how famous it goes! 

But to cook a plate of delicious Char Koay Teow is not easy, some may make the Char Koay Teow too wet. The Penang Char Koay Teow in Penang is mainly cook by the street hawker who not just focus on selling one type of food, but they are using charcoal fire to cook the Char Koay Teow, the mouthwatering aroma is heartwarming! For me a Penangite to cook this food is mainly nostalgia, it has so many memories in it... the time when I was still young and stayed with my parent, and the time with all my high school girls friend. 

I'm glad that Alan of Travellingfoodies wrote so much information about Penang's street food, just hop over to see his blog. Attached a video on how a street hawker frying Char Koay Teow at Lorong Selamat, Georgetown Penang for your viewing  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8FbdQcKW-o 

I don't have blood cockles, fish cake and bak eu phok (croutons of deep fried pork lardons)  in hands, so I'm using Travellingfoodies's recipe with minor modifications. This dish is suppose to fry in small quantity, it means one plate at a time, and don't ever add any water in this dish, if the noodle is too dry while frying, add a bit of oil instead otherwise you will get mushy koay teow!

Recipe from Travellingfoodies

Ingredients for a serving:

100g fresh koay teow (flat rice noodles)
4-5 medium-large prawns, heads removed, peeled and deveined (soak the prawn in 1 tbsp of sugar with cold water)
1 clove of garlic, crushed, peeled and chopped finely
handful of bean sprouts, rinsed and set aside.
1 chinese sausages, sausage casing removed and sliced thinnly
2-3 stalks chives, rinsed and cut into 3-4 cm lengthwise
2 tbsp chili boh (add more if you love spicy noodle)
1 large egg
2 tbsp oil stir-frying + 1/2 tbsp oil for egg (need to add bit of oil with spatula if noodle is too dry)
2 tbsp light soya sauce or 1 tbsp if light soya sauc with 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
dash of pepper
blood cockles (optional)
1 fish cake, sliced (optional)
croutons of deep fried pork lardons aka bak eu phok (optional)
water as needed (omitted)

Instructions

1. if using, wash blood cockles by rubbing them around submerged in water to dislodge any debris stuck on their shells.  Rinse thoroughly, place the cockles in a large bowl and pour hot water over them for the shells to open. Remove each cockle from the shell with a teaspoon or toothpick and leave to soak in a bit of water. Discard shells.

2. Heat a wok until it begins to smoke and add 2 tbsp of cooking oil when the wok is hot. Spread the oil over the pan or wok, add the prawns and sitr fry quickly until they develop a pinkish hue. Then add sliced chinese sausages for them to saute slightly before adding the chopped garlic and stir continuously until aromatic.

3.  Bean sprouts can be added if using (as i want my bean sprouts to be thoroughly overcooked, that's why I add at this stage, I don't like the raw taste). Add the chilli boh paste and stir quickly for a few strokes to spread the chili paste and coat the prawns. Fish cake slices can also be added with prawns if using.

4. Add koay teow, followed by light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, pepper and fish sauce if using. Stir well for 30 seconds or so until the koay teow is uniformly colored and the prawns thoroughly cooked. Add 1 tbsp of oil around the perimeter of the wok if the noodles become too dry. 

5. Push everything in the wok to one side and add 1/2 tbsp of oil to the “cleared space”. Crack the egg over the oil and partially scramble with a spatula. When it is half cooked and still slightly runny, mix the egg with the other ingredients.

6. Add chopped chives and drained cockles (if using) and give everything a good final stir before turning off the fire. Plate up and serve immediately with a generous sprinkling of bak eu phok (if using).

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Penang Month hosted by Alan of Travellingfoodies