Char kway teow
Char kway teow is a delicious stir-fried noodle dish made from flat rice noodles (also known as ho fun). Here the noodles are fried with prawns, Chinese sausage, egg and fish cakes. The whole dish comes together very quickly, so be sure to have everything prepped and ready to go.
This recipe is taken from Chinese-Ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu (Murdoch Books, £22). Photography by Armelle Habib.
Smoky, slippery, fatty and rich, these hawker-style noodles are laced with soft clouds of egg. This recipe is for one serve only, because you won’t get the same charred flavour from an overcrowded pan. Multiply as required for more servings. If you’re short on time, shop-bought sambal oelek is fine to use instead of the chilli paste.
NOTES
Lard is a flavoursome fat used in traditional Chinese cooking. You can buy it at most supermarkets and butchers. You could also use the fatty top layer that forms when making stock. Chinese sausage and fish cake are found in the fridge section of well-stocked Asian grocers. Dried Sichuan chillies are long, red, intensely-flavoured chillies, and they are available at most Asian grocers. If you can’t find them, use any other dried chillies.
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Chilli paste
- 5 dried Sichuan chillies , (see Notes), soaked in water until soft, then drained
- 2 red chillies, fresh
- 3 shallots, French or Asian
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 pinch of salt
Sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp kecap manis
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of light soy sauce
- 80ml of lard, (see Notes) or vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 125g of fresh thick rice noodles
- 25g of fresh thick egg noodles
- 1/2 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), (see Notes), thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 4 slices of fish cake, (see Notes)
- 4 medium raw prawns , peeled and deveined
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 handful of beansprouts, trimmed at both ends
- 30g of garlic chives, cut into thirds
Method
To make the chilli paste, blitz all of the ingredients together in a food processor to form a fine paste and set aside. You will need 1 tablespoon of this chilli paste (or sambal oelek, if using) for each portion of noodles. Store the remaining chilli paste in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week
- 5 dried Sichuan chillies , (see Notes), soaked in water until soft, then drained
- 2 red chillies, fresh
- 3 shallots, French or Asian
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 pinch of salt
To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside
- 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp kecap manis
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp of light soy sauce
Heat the lard or oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat until smoking. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant, 10–15 seconds, then add the rice noodles and egg noodles. Stir-fry over high heat for around 30 seconds, then add the Chinese sausage, fish cake and prawns. Continue to stir-fry over high heat until the sausage fat begins to render and the noodles are lightly charred, 2–3 minutes
- 80ml of lard, (see Notes) or vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 125g of fresh thick rice noodles
- 25g of fresh thick egg noodles
- 1/2 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), (see Notes), thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 4 slices of fish cake, (see Notes)
- 4 medium raw prawns , peeled and deveined
Add the sauce and 1 tablespoon of the chilli paste or sambal oelek (use more if you want more heat) and toss to coat
Push the noodles to the side of the pan and add the beaten egg, bean sprouts and garlic chives. Fry for 30–40 seconds over high heat, until the chives begin to wilt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 handful of beansprouts, trimmed at both ends
- 30g of garlic chives, cut into thirds
Mix everything together, then transfer to a plate and serve immediately
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