
Char Kuey Teow is a big deal in Southeast Asia. It is a super popular street food in Malaysia and Singapore. It is similar version would be Thai Pad See Ew or Chinese Beef Chau Hor Fun. This Penang street food is undeniably good, with it’s signature smoky flavour, and you can make it at your very own kitchen with easy steps.
Char Kuey Teow can be found in most towns in Malaysia, and not just in Penang but it’s a MUST to try this dish from the hawker stalls when you visit Penang, as you’d call it, “the real deal”. I grew up eating a slightly different version of Char Kuey Teow, the Klang version, which is slightly darker in colour, has smaller prawns and cockles without chinese sausage (lap cheong).





INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A BASIC PENANG CHAR KUEY TEOW
- Kuey Teow Noodles. This dish is made from Kuey Teow, known as flat rice noodles. I used the fresh Kuey Teow, which is ready to use adn can be bought in most supermarkets. In most hawker stalls, they offer a combination of both Kuey Teow and yellow noodles. I am using both yellow noodles and kuey teow.
- Chinese Sausage. known as Lap Cheong. It has a sweet tone to it, omittable if you can’t find it. You can replace with slice fish cake
- Prawns. Use medium sized fresh prawns, shells removed and deveined.
- Egg. Use duck egg for the extra aroma. If unable to find, use chicken egg
- Blood cockles. I did not use this as I had severe food poisoning eating this so I am not open to eating it yet.
- Mung Bean Sprouts, known as taugeh. Use fresh mung beans to give the dish textural contrast with its freshness and crunchiness.
- Chinese Chives. known as ‘ku chai’. It’s flat chives / garlic chives and is different from spring onion / scallion.
- Light and Dark Soy sauce. Each hawker cook has their own blend of special sauce, and that will sometimes differentiate them from other stalls. Dark soy sauce is slightly sweeter and adds a darker glossier brown to the dish. The consistency is thicker. Light soy sauce brings salty flavour to the dish.
- Oyster Sauce. Added for umami flavour
- Chili Boh. Chili paste to make a spicy version of this dish, I prefer my Char Kuey Teow not spicy so I did not add. If you cannot find chili paste, use sambal oelek.
- White Pepper. I use alot of ground white pepper instead of chili.
- Garlic. Use fresh minced garlic.
- Pork Lard. The aroma of pork lard is different from using regular oil. It also has a higher smoking point making it easier to create the charred taste on high heat. If you cannot find it, use duck fat or regular vegetable oil. (check previous post on how to make pork lard)



STEPS TO COOK PENANG CHAR KUEY TEOW
- Prepare sauce. Mix light and dark soy sauce with oyster sauce. This part can be altered to your liking if you prefer a sweeter version, darker version or a white (no dark soy sauce) version. This will be the seasoning for the noodles.
- Cut and prepare the ingredients. For a stir fry that takes only minutes, you will want to have all the ingredients ready to go. Deshell and devein prawns and slice Chinese sausage, have bean sprouts soaked in water and cut chives to smaller sizes. If using blood cockles, remove from shell.
- Portion out noodles. Have the noodles ready and portioned out on plates. I recommend to cook a maximum of 2 portions at one go to maintain the ‘wok hey’
- Heat wok over high heat. It needs to be smoking hot. When you see smoke starts to rice, add in oil or pork lard oil.
- Cooking. It will only take about 2-3 minutes to cook. Add in garlic and quickly stir fry for 5 seconds. Add prawns and chinese sausage and fry till prawns start to turn pink.
- Push these ingredients to the side, add a little bit more oil and crack in a duck egg, leave it undisturbed for 15 seconds. Scramble with the turner and saute together with prawns and chinese sausage. Remain at high heat.
- Add in noodles, sauce, white pepper and / or chili paste if using. Saute till noodles are coated with sauce with some char, for about 1 minute. Have a quick taste to see if it needs extra seasoning (usually a bit more soy sauce) Add blood cockles if using now and stir for 5-10 seconds.
- Drain bean sprouts and add in with chives. Give it a quick stir, about 10 seconds and turn off heat. The residual heat will continue to soften chives and bean sprouts while maintaining the crunchiness and will continue to cook blood cockles.
- Dish out and serve immediately on a plate lined with banana leaf and top with some crispy pork lard.

Penang Char Kuey Teow
Equipment
- Wok
- Turner
Ingredients
- 150-180 gram flat rice noodle / yellow noodles
- 2 tbsp pork lard oil , use cooking oil if not able to find
- 1 tbsp garlic , minced
- 1/2 link chinese sausage , skin removed, sliced
- 6-8 pieces prawns , deshelled, deveined
- 1 duck egg , use chicken egg if not able to find.
- 1 handful bean sprouts
- 3 stalks chinese chives , cut to 1 inch length
- 1-2 tbsp crispy pork lard (optional)
Seasonings
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tbsp chili boh (chili paste) (if using, or as needed)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Instructions
Seasoning
- Mix all the sauces in a bowl, stir to combine.
Preparation
- Cut all ingredients and have them within reach. Portion out noodles.
Cooking
- Heat wok to high heat, till smoke rises. Add in 1 tbsp lard oil.
- Add garlic and stir fry for about 10 seconds. Add in chinese sausage and prawns and saute till prawn starts to turn pink.
- Push prawns and sausage aside, add 1 tbsp lard oil on another. Add in 1 duck egg. Leave it undisturbed for about 15 seconds until it starts to firm up at the edges. Use turner /spatula to scramble it. Mix in together with prawns and sausage.
- Add in kuey teow and yellow noodles. Add in seasoning sauce and chili paste if using. Continue to stir fry noodles till some charness and sauce is coated evenly, about 1 minute. Add in blood cockles now if using (I didn't use) and saute. Check if seasoning is enough, otherwise add a little more soy sauce.
- Drain bean sprouts, add in with chives. Saute for about 5-10 seconds. Turn off heat.
- Dish out onto a plate with banana leaf. Top with crispy pork lard.
Notes
Did you try this dish?
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