January 2, 2007
The Unorthodox Char Kway Teow Recipe
I wanted to make Char Kway Teow, you know… the black kind with clams, but after surfing the internet for recipes, either I have the sweet dark soy sauce ingredient missing or I do not have lard. So I called 1-800-MY-MOMMY for her recipe.
I probably called her too early in her morning, because she gave me a very vague reply. Basically it was like this:
–> Stir fry the meat
–> Wok now has flavor, so add in the kway teow
–> Add in vegetables
–> Add in seasoning.
Done.
Ermm… but mom! What meat do you use? Do you use fresh kway teow? How long do you soak it for? What seasoning to use? Who, what, where, when, why and how?
After a while of probing, voice decibels rising and filling in the blanks, I had an idea what to do. So armed with my wok and ladle, I took on this task of making Char Kway Teow. It’s called the “unorthodox” Char Kway Teow recipe because you cannot find this dish in any hawker stall, restaurant or food court.
Ingredients (Serves 2):
- 4-5 medium shrimp, shelled and deveined (keep the shells for making prawn stock)
- 1/4 lb pork, cut into bite sized slices
- 1 lb fresh Kway Teow noodles (also called flat rice noodles)
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed (so that you can remove them later)
- 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper
- a few stalks of you cai, cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
- 4 cups of fresh bean sprouts
- 1 stalk of scallions, cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
Shrimp stock (I learnt this from Martin Yan):
- heads and shells from shrimp
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 stalk of scallions, cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 cups hot water
Seasoning for pork and shrimp:
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp corn starch
- a few dashes of white pepper
Seasoning for Char Kway Teow:
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (for coloring purposes only)
- 1/2 cup shrimp stock (made from shrimp shells)
Preparation and cooking method:
1. Peel head and shells off shrimp, keeping the tail end (for aesthetic purposes). Devein shrimp and set aside. Transfer shells, ginger, scallions, salt and hot water into a saucepan. Bring to boil to make prawn stock. Turn down heat after the stock boils.
2. Season pork and shrimp separately with light soy sauce, corn starch and white pepper. Set aside.
3. Soak Kway Teow in warm water for 5-6 minutes. Using your fingers, gently separate the noodles. Drain water off the Kway Teow once you are able to separate the Kway Teow. If soaked for too long, they will break up too much when stir frying.
4. Heat up 2 tbsp vegetable oil in wok. Medium heat. When oil is hot enough, add garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
5. Add pork and stir fry and its color changes then add shrimp. (Note: I add the shrimp later as the shrimp cooks very quickly.) Once the pork and shrimp are cooked, remove them from the wok and set them aside. (Note: I don’t leave the pork and shrimp in the wok before I stir fry the Kway Teow as I do not want to overcook the pork and shrimp. If overcooked, they will become tough.)
6. In my mom’s words, the wok now has flavor, so it’s time to add in the Kway Teow, followed by Kway Teow seasoning. Mix well.
7. Make a circular empty space in the middle of the wok. Add beaten egg and roughly scramble the eggs then gently fold the Kway Teow over to mix.
8. Add the cooked pork and prawns to the Kway Teow, then add you cai, bean sprouts and scallions and gently fold the Kway Teow over to mix. (The bean sprouts should still be crunchy when the Kway Teow is served, that’s why we add the bean sprouts only at the very last minute.)
9. Add more prawn stock if the Char Kway Teow is too dry. Refrigerate excess prawn stock for tomorrow’s recipe.
10. Remove garlic and plate the Char Kway Teow.
For me, I transferred the Char Kway Teow onto a double sheet of foil as I was only going to serve it later in the evening. I put the foil onto a plate and when I want to eat it later, I just have to steam the Char Kway Teow WITH the foil. In this way, I have one less plate to wash. Ain’t I brilliant?
Bite This!
More recipes:
Stir Fried Beef With Ginger And Spring Onions
Found: Chai Tow Kway in Ranch 99
Prawns - My My, What Do You Know?
Stir Fried Kai Lan Frolicking With Pork And Prawns
My Singapore Food Cravings (4): Kway Chap
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January 2nd, 2007 at 3:36 pm
It’s a good thing you included a photo because I had no idea what Char Kway Teow was. It looks like chow fun noodles.
It’s too bad more restaurants don’t use photo’s because sometimes it’s hard to order when you don’t have a clue what a lot of the dishes are.
January 2nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I think “Chow Fun” is the Cantonese dialect terminology whereas “Char Kway Teow” is in the Hokkien/Teochew dialect terminology. So Daddy is RIGHT!
January 2nd, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Final product looks orthodox to me :) Bet it was hard work you put in there. Maybe I can try in future. Sometimes, I would use the foil method too, to keep food warm, for longer, and hahah…les one plate to wash!
January 2nd, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I too have an 1-800 number. Though it’s a 1-800-my-daddy. And I call him all the time, cause for some reason when I actually start cooking the thing that I’ve eaten a thousand times, I suddenly realize that I don’t even know what ingredients go into it. Thank God for parents!
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:27 am
Tigerfish - The ones I have eaten outside of home usually have some gravy and is of a darker shade (like hor fun). Ya… this recipe needed some work. The prep work like deveining the shrimp and soaking the kway teow took some time. My kway teow refused to separate!
Vasilisa - I thank God for my mom but I don’t want to be like her! She’s kinda naggy. I hope I won’t become naggy!
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:44 am
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January 3rd, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Yan can cook! I think my mom has his rice cooker! :D
January 4th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Haha! I didn’t know Martin Yan has his own brand of rice cooker!
January 29th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
[…] The real reason why I had cooked this was because my fresh rice noodles had gone bad, so I could not make Beef Hor Fun. Now let’s see… the last time I used half that packet of 2 lb rice noodles for my Char Kway Teow was… OMG! it was the beginning of this month! No wonder! […]
March 5th, 2007 at 5:47 am
yr char kway teow recipe very good leh…thank u! it is hard to find in sydney….
March 6th, 2007 at 10:25 am
Hi Louise, Thanks for visiting! I hope you have fun experimenting with this recipe!
April 11th, 2007 at 2:39 am
Hello..! Thx for ya char kway teow recipe.. I’m gonna use it for my Food and nutrition practical exam for o’level.. ^^ Hope i can pass ya??
April 11th, 2007 at 5:29 am
Hey there, good luck for your exams. Just a note: I bought fresh kway teow and had some trouble separating the kway teow, so you might want to experiment with the recipe first before the practical exams ok?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:21 am
you can find fresh kway teow and kway chap in oakland asian shops or clement st in SFO. It’s easy to fry noodles like yr mom said. just don’t stir a long time. Just have to eat it straight away. It’s hor fun in SIN. but chow fun here in SFO.
June 11th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Hi, thanks for sharing the recipe, I have tried it, and it WORKS! Therefore, I’ve placed ur link in my site : )
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Hi Thanks for the instruction on how to separate the noodles before cooking. I bought a fresh pack and was wondering how I do it. In S’pore I normally buy it loose and ready to use.