Home Made Char Koay Teow

I've always wanted to try making Char Koay Teow at home but never really got around to it. Since we went to Hong Kong Supermarket yesterday for our groceries, I decided to pick up some fresh koay teow and yellow noodles to experiment and try to make some home made Char Koay Teow. I soon realized that it's not all that difficult to make, actually.

This is what we need to make Char Koay Teow. A pack of fresh koay teow, a pack of yellow noodles (optional), chopped garlic, large shrimps, fish cake (sliced), Chinese sausage (sliced), beansprouts, an egg, pan roasted chili paste and some soy sauce mix. To make the pan roasted chili paste, just heat the wok, add in some oil and stir fry some belachan until fragrant. Then, add in some garlic followed by fresh chili paste, sugar and a little bit of salt. Allow it to cook until it changes to a dark reddish brown color. Pour it into a bowl and set aside. The soy sauce mix is also easy to make. Just add about 2 tbsp of thick dark soy sauce with 3 tbsp of light soy sauce and 3 tbsp of water. Mix it all together and you have your soy sauce mix.

Before you start frying the noodles, heat the wok to smoking hot. Then add in some oil followed by some chopped garlic.

After a few seconds, add in the sliced Chinese sausage (lap cheong).

Stir fry the Chinese sausage for a minute or two, then toss in the shrimp and sliced fish cakes. You can also add in squid if you like.

Once the shrimp have turned opaque, add in the koay teow and yellow noodles. Then sprinkle about 4 spoonfuls of the soy sauce mix on top of the noodles. Continue stir frying the noodles for about 3-4 minutes.

Next, push the noodles aside to make an empty space in the middle of the wok. Add in some more oil and crack in one egg. Scramble the egg and fold the noodles over it. At this point, you can add in some cockles if you like.

Add in a few spoonfuls of the pan roasted chili paste (depending on how spicy you want the noodles to be) and continue stir frying the noodles until it is slightly charred. Finally, add in the beansprouts and chives (I didn't add in chives cos we do not like the taste). Give it one last stir and it is ready to be serve!

I served the Char Koay Teow on top of a piece of banana leaf, just like how they would do it back in the day in Penang. It somehow makes the Char Koay Teow taste a little bit better :D I am pleasantly surprised that it turned out pretty well (for my first try). I think this recipe is a keeper. However, I will use a duck egg instead of a chicken egg the next time! Also, I will add in lots of bak ew phok (deep fried lard). With the duck egg and bak ew phok, this Char Koay Teow will taste 100% authentic! :P