Char Kway Teow

rep.
(a) Cut some green veges, whatever you like. Result: stem and leaves.
(b) Mix: 1 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil. Result: bowl of mix
(c) Slice up: chinese sausage, fish cakes (chicken?). Result: meat mix
(d) Deroot (old habits die hard): Bean sprouts. result: Derooted Bean sprouts
(e) Chop: garlic. I use 1-2 pieces. Result: chopped garlic.

1. Boil yellow and white flat noodles. Drain. Heat oil in pot/pan/wok with a pinch of (e) chopped garlic, then fry the yellow and white flat noodles with (a) vege stems. If vege stems are harder (e.g. chye sim), fry stem first then noodles. Put pot one side. Result: Cooked noodle mix.

2. Heat oil in wok with a pinch of (e) chopped garlic, then fry (c) meat mix. When half cooked, throw in (b) bowl of mix. When fully cooked, put one side in a large plate/bowl. Result: Cooked meat mix.

3. Now, with (1) and (2) above nearby, use same wok that you just emptied to cook individual portions. Again oil and even less garlic heated. Throw in a bowl of 1 to 2 quarter-beaten eggs. Let eggs semi harden, then throw in (2) Cooked meat mix for an individual, and cook them all mixing the egg with them. Then throw in an individual portion of (1) Cooked noodle mix, stir fry some more. Then throw in a handful of (d) Derooted Bean sprouts and (a) leaves, and immediately pour 1-2 tbsp of DARK STARCH, and mix them all until the leaves are cooked (they shrink by 25%) and then immediately pour out to individual plates to serve 1. Repeat for another plate.

The trick is the DARK STARCH for the taste and texture of char Kway teow. After years of experimentation, I find that dark soy sauce add more saltiness rather than just the colour and the dark starch taste of char kway teow.

My missus and myself were from Chung Cheng high in the old days, and remember an old man who cooked Char Kway Teow for years(!) -- he was still cooking it and it was awesome, some 10 years after we revisited. In trying to reconstruct what he's done, we pieced together ingredients from all over youtube and the net over the years and believe this is the way it was done. Warning: best to do is as husband and wife -- the person cooking individual portions would find it easier if someone was helping with all the logistics!

There are small tricks along the way. If step (1) gets too dry, or step (3) gets too dry when throwing in the noodle mix, add a few drops (or tsp, or tbsp) of water. Noodles soak up a maddening amount of moisture so keeping it tangy and wet externally would prevent the noodles from disintegrating too easily.

Egg portions can also be controlled. My kids like 1 egg to share for 1 portion. I go for 2. DW goes for 3, sometimes 4. Starch and darkness levels also can be controlled individually.

If you read up the origins of char kway teow, it was nothing more than lard and cheap noodles, for some of our ancestor coolies who needed the energy boost. We've tried lard, but find no pleasure in the sickening taste. The dark starch should suffice.


By Rostov