Char Kuey Teow
by Sabrina Razak
When we said Char Kuey Teow, you must
have imagined the smell of a plate of Char Kuey Teow that is very appetizing,
soft kuey teow, with gravy full of sweet protein flavours. This delicacy that
has succeeded in capturing the hearts of Malaysians and foreign tourists not only
can be found in Penang or Ipoh, but also throughout Malaysia. However, these
two states located in the north of Peninsular Malaysia are said to have very different
flavours and are tastier than other places. Is this true? Probably depends on
individual taste.
What
about Char Kuey Teow that is usually sold at Malay’s stall? This issue has been
much debated in social media. Many consumers told that the food’s name are
creating confusion among Char Kuey Teow lovers. This is because in Cantonese
wet fried kuey teow is called ‘supp chow kway teow’. Then here happen the
incident of order the right name but order that arrives is wrong.
This is what interesting about Char Kuey
Teow evolution in Malaysia, throughout time this dish have manage to pass
through Malay Islam community market. The specialty of Char Kuey Teow cooked by
Malay Islam traders is this dish has a thick gravy, cooked with egg, shrimp, cockles
or chicken. Other ingredients such as garlic, dried chillies, soy sauce, bean
sprouts, and chives are the same. Hence, if you want to order Char Kuey Teow
(fried) at Malay’s stall, customers need to mention ‘fried’ Char Kuey Teow.
Yes, it does means ‘double fried kuey
teow’ or ‘fried fried kuey teow’,
quit funny but perhaps that is the best way not to get your order wrong.
As mentioned before, the original recipe of Char Kuey Teow are using pork oil which it is a non-halal ingredient to the Muslim community in Malaysia. Thus, the oil has been replace with palm oil to suit with Islamic law. The oil can be sauté with garlic or shrimp to give flavour. The taste of Char Kuey Teow from both version are not too different except Malay version have gravy and moist, while Chinese version is moist and do not have gravy. Both version will be eaten with chillies pickle to give extra spicy taste. However, in Malay style Char Kuey Teow or wet Char Kuey Teow, the chef will add a tiny amount of chilli paste just to add a bit of spiciness into the dishes because most Malay like it spicy.
Due to the demand of Char Kuey Teow in
Malay community, there are many stall that sell wet version of Char Kuey Teow had
been open. Now, Char Kuey Teow can be
found in most part of southern region especially central region which are
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. However, it is hard to find a place that suit the
taste of this dish because some stall cook it too runny, spicy, little portion,
expensive and there are some that cook it burnt no matter numerous times customers
order.
Many believe that the secrets of wet Char
Kuey Teow is in the sauce that cook together with rice noodles (kuey teow) and
other ingredients to produce the delicious wet Char Kuey Teow. In other words,
the dark colour sauce, have sweet and spicy taste is the real source of the
deliciousness of this dish. The sauce are made from shrimp broth, chilli paste,
garlic, dark soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, anchovies cube, sugar
and salt. There are some recipes that separate the chilli paste and in some
recipe they added squid sauce. The recipes are different depends on the
restaurants or stall that sell it because most places have its own recipe.
The Movement Control Order 2.0 (MC0 2.0)
as began in several states, means that no more ‘jalan-jalan cari makan’ (go travel for tasty food). Although, many
stalls and restaurants are now using food delivery but personally, wet Char
Kuey Teow is more delightful when eat at the place as it is still hot and the
aroma of the dish being cook, stroke the nose. Nothing can be comparable with
the environment when go to the wet Char Kuey Teow restaurants or stalls. No
matter how busy that place are, if the dish is so good and the service is over
the top, customers will come just to enjoy the dish. Unfortunately, Malaysian
are now that stuck at home, hoping for the MCO 2.0 end faster, no more COVID-19,
and we can go travel. For the meanwhile why not try to make our own version of Char
Kuey Teow or wet Char Kuey Teow? Anyway, please stay safe, stay healthy and do
not forget to try the recipe.
Recipe Wet Char Kuey Teow
The CKT Sauce
500g shrimp (take the head and skin
only)
400 ml water
4 cloves of garlic (smashed)
6 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs dark soy sauce
3 tbs sweet soy sauce
1 cube of anchovies stock
(or 2 tbs shrimp paste)
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp salt
Method
- 1.
Boiled
the head and skin of the shrimp only. Let it cool before blend it.
- 2.
Strain
the blended shrimp skin and keep the shrimp stock aside.
- 3.
Add
other ingredient except salt in the pot of shrimp stock and mix it well.
- 4.
Boil
the mixture with medium heat until the liquid drop 15% to 20%. The sauce need
to be thick.
- 5.
Add
salt until the saltiness can be taste. Keep the sauce in a jar and store it in
the fridge
The chilli paste
50g – 70g of dried chillies (chopped and
boiled)
1 tbs dried shrimp
6 cloves of garlic
8 – 10 tbs Oil
Method
- 1.
Blend
all ingredients except for oil
- 2.
Saute
the blended ingredients until can see the oil separate from the mixture
- 3.
Let
it cool aside.
Wet Char Kuey Teow
500g kuey teow
250g shrimp
150g cockles’ meat
100g bean sprout
100g chives (chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 tbs chilli paste
5 tbs CKT sauce
3 eggs
2-3 tbs oil
Water
Salt to taste
Method
- Heat the wok with oil, sauté garlic with medium heat until it turns brown and add the chilli paste. Sauté the mixture until well combined.
- Add the protein together with the CKT sauce. If the gravy is too thick add 1 or 2 cup of water to loosen it and let it boiled a moment.
- Add the kuey teow and stir until well mix. Push a bit the kuey teow and add the egg. Let the egg cook a bit before mix together with kuey teow.
- Season with salt and sugar if needed.
- Add chives and bean sprout, mix well the ingredients. The wet Char Kuey Teow are ready to be serve.
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