Char Kway Teow

Char means fried & Kway Teow is a type of flat rice noodles so Char Kway Teow literally means fried flat rice noodles. But it's not just any fried noodles, it's a specific dish that so reminds me of home. Like laksa, there are also various versions - the very famous Penang Char Kway Teow & of course, the Singapore version.

I was browsing some Facebook pictures of a friend who was just in Singapore & her photo of char kway teow sent me straight to the kitchen to make this. It's missing of course, my favorite ingredient, cockles. Whenever I order a plate of char kway teow, I always asked for extra "hum". The cockles used in char kway teow are blood cockles or see hum which are extremely hard to come by outside of Asia. I once bought what looked like cockles in the supermarket here but disappointingly, they turned out to be regular cockles. Without cockles, it's just not the same but it will have to do for now.


Char kway teow is really not a very photogenic dish & neither is it the healthiest but boy, is it good.

Char Kway Teow

Kway Teow or Flat rice noodles
shrimps, remove head, shell & veins
chinese sausage, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
bean sprouts
2-3 eggs

Sauce (mix together in a bowl)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp chili paste
1 Tbsp sugar
salt & pepper

1. Soak noodles in warm water till soft then drain & set aside.

2. Heat oil & fry garlic.

3. Add noodles & sauce. Fry till noodles are cooked, moving it around often. If noodles get sticky, add some water.

4. Next add shrimps & chinese sausage.

5. When shrimps are cooked, push everything to one side of the wok & add eggs. Let the eggs set before mixing in the rest of the noodles.

6. Finally add beansprouts, give it a good swirl in the wok. Remove & serve hot.