Char Kway Teow at home

Char Kway Teow is a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore.For the uninitiated, it's a humble stirfry flat rice noodle dish one can find from the roadside hawker stall, to the posh 5-star restaurant that serve local food. There is a constant debate between the two neighboring countries on who makes the better Char Kway Teow. Maybe I exxagerate, there isn't a debate on the national level, but hey, at least such is the case in my household.

OCT prefers the Singaporean version naturally, made with a sweeter sauce. Will it surprise you that, I on the other hand, prefer the version I grown up with, which uses soy sauce and dark soy sauce? Both versions use lard, chinese sausage, mung beans, fish cakes, cockles, prawn and homemade chilli paste, rendering it the bad reputation as cholesterol bomb.

Some weeks ago we spotted the fresh rice noodle at a local Asian grocery store. So we decided to try cooking Char Kway Teow at home. I will be lying if I tell you our version is as good as the one from Singapore/Malaysia. Lacking a powerful hot stove for quick fire stirfrying, it's impossible to replicate the same flavor. Our health conscious also prevented us from using lard or lots of oil in the cooking process.

The end result was a passable version of our beloved Char Kway Teow. Paired with the chilli sauce we brought back from Singapore, at least it satisfied our cravings for the time being. I am not attaching my recipe here because I simply didn't remember to note down the amount of different ingredients used! If anyone has a good recipe for Char Kway Teow, please share. :)

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