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Experience the vibrant flavors of Malaysia in every delectable bite with the finest and most authentic Penang Char Kuey Teow recipe you'll discover online. Complete with a step-by-step guide, insider secrets, techniques, and pro tips, this culinary masterpiece boasts a smoky aroma and an irresistible taste that will transport you straight to the streets of Penang.
What Is Char Kuey Teow
When it comes to Penang hawker food/street food, there are a few dishes that are chart-toppers: Asam Laksa, Penang Hokkien Mee and Char Kuey Teow. It’s hard to decide which one is the most popular, but if you go to Penang, you won’t—and don’t want to—miss these three stellar hawker food.
Char Kuey Teow is a popular Malaysian hawker food dish made with flat rice noodles stir-fried with shrimp, bloody cockles, Chinese lap cheong (sausage), eggs, bean sprouts, and chives in a mix of soy sauce seasoning.
Elements Of The Best Char Kuey Teow
A great serving of Char Kuey Teow is flavored not only with the freshest ingredients, but equally important is the elusive charred and smoky aroma from stir-frying the noodles over very high heat in a well-seasoned Chinese wok. The mouthwatering aroma is the “wok hei” or breath of wok. If you’ve been to Penang and walk on streets where there are Char Kuey Teow hawkers, you’ll know what I mean.
A great Char Kuey Teow beckons you from blocks away; the tempting aroma fills the air and lure diners in from afar. The very thought of that smell is enough to set my stomach rumbling.
Penang Char Kuey Teow Reigns Supreme
While this dish can be found throughout Malaysia, the Penang version reigns supreme. I’ve heard many stories about tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and beyond who trek religiously to Penang for a satisfying meal of this noodle dish.
Somehow, Char Kuey Teow (or its abbreviation “CKT”) from outside of Penang is simply an inferior shadow of the real stuff—lack of wok hei, too dark in color, and/or wrong taste and texture. And that’s the very reason why Malaysians from out-of-state would go to Penang—just to have a plate of Char Kuey Teow.
Ingredients
Ingredients For Char Kuey Teow
- Flat rice noodles
- Bean sprouts
- Blood cockles
- Chinese chives
- Chinese sausage
- Garlic
- Shrimp
- Egg
Ingredients For Chili Paste
- Dried red chilies
- Fresh red chilies
- Shallots
- Oil
- Salt
Ingredients For Sauce
- Soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Sugar
- Salt
- Ground white pepper
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make This Recipe
Step 1: Grind all the ingredients of the chili paste using a mini food processor until fine. Heat up a wok with 1 teaspoon oil and stir-fry the chili paste until aromatic. Dish out and set aside.
Step 2: Clean the wok thoroughly and heat it over high flame until it starts to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons oil/lard into the wok and add half the portion of chopped garlic into the wok and do a quick stir.
Step 3: Transfer six (6) prawn out of water and half the sausage slices into the wok. Make a few quick stirs with the spatula until the prawn starts to change color and you smell the aroma of the Chinese sausage.
Step 4: Add half the bean sprouts into the wok.
Step 5: Immediately follow by 8 oz. (230g) or half portion of the flat noodles.
Step 6: Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of the sauce into the wok and stir vigorously to blend well. Add an egg on top of the noodles. Use the spatula to break the egg yolk and stir to blend with the egg white. Flip the noodles and cover the egg, and wait for about 15 seconds.
Step 7: Add about 1/2 tablespoon of chili paste (if you like it spicy, add more) and some cockle clams into the wok.
Step 8: Continue to stir-fry and make sure the egg is cooked through. Add chives, do a couple of quick stirs, dish out and serve immediately.
Cooking Tips
Char Kuey Teow is one the most requested recipes on Rasa Malaysia. I have readers who’ve been begging me to post my Char Kuey Teow recipe since years ago.
Great things, especially a perfect recipe, is worth waiting for. Of course I’ve made Char Kuey Teow many times, but I wanted to share the ultimate Char Kuey Teow recipe, and this is it.
So, what are my secrets?
- Get the freshest ingredients—fresh and crunchy bean sprouts, freshly-made noodles, big, fat, succulent shrimp/prawn, bloody cockles (I love my Char Kuey Teow with them, without them, it’s not quite the same!), etc.
- Wonder why the prawn in Penang Char Kuey Teow are always so succulent, juicy, and sweet? I believe some of the most famous stalls treat their prawn with sugar and ice water, or perhaps they are just very fresh.
- Use lard if you can. That’s the secret for the rich silky taste.
- Very hot wok.
- Control your timing of cooking and hence control your “wok hei.”
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 639 calories per serving.
What To Serve With This Recipe
For a complete Malaysian hawker food experience, I recommend the following recipes.
Char Kuey Teow is seriously scrumptious and I don’t see why it can’t be as popular and well-known as Pad Thai or Pad See Ew and the likes on the global stage. I strongly believe that one day, the world will discover the delicacy that is Penang’s Char Kuey Teow.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Char Kuey Teow
Ingredients
Chili Paste:
- 1 oz (30g) dried red chilies, seeded, soak in water
- 2 fresh red chilies, seeded
- 3 small shallots, or pearl onions, peeled and sliced
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 pinch salt
Sauce (mix and blend well):
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 dashes ground white pepper
Other Ingredients:
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
- 12 prawn, shelled , submerge in ice cold water plus 2 tablespoons sugar for 30 minutes
- 1 lb. (500g) fresh flat rice noodles, completely loosened and no clumps
- 1 lb. (500g) blood cockles, extract the cockles by opening its shell
- 2 Chinese sausages, sliced diagonally
- 1 bunch fresh bean sprouts, rinsed with cold water and drained
- 4 large eggs
- 1 bunch Chinese chives, removed about 1-inch of the bottom section and cut into 2-inch lengths
Instructions
- Grind all the ingredients for the chili paste using a mini food processor until fine. Heat a wok with 1 teaspoon of oil and stir-fry the chili paste until aromatic. Dish out and set aside.
- Clean the wok thoroughly and heat it over high flame until it starts to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons of oil or lard to the wok, then add half of the chopped garlic and stir quickly.
- Transfer six prawns and half of the sausage slices into the wok. Stir quickly with the spatula until the prawns start to change color and you smell the aroma of the Chinese sausage.
- Add half of the bean sprouts to the wok.
- Follow immediately with 8 oz. (230g) or half of the flat noodles.
- Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of the sauce to the wok and stir vigorously to combine. Crack an egg on top of the noodles. Use the spatula to break the egg yolk and stir to mix with the egg white. Flip the noodles to cover the egg and wait for about 15 seconds.
- Add about 1/2 tablespoon of chili paste (add more if you like it spicy) and some cockle clams to the wok.
- Continue stir-frying until the egg is cooked through. Add the chives, give a couple of quick stirs, then dish out and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- Get the freshest ingredients—fresh and crunchy bean sprouts, freshly-made noodles, big, fat, succulent shrimp/prawn, bloody cockles (I love my Char Kuey Teow with them, without them, it’s not quite the same!), etc.
- Wonder why the prawn in Penang Char Kuey Teow are always so succulent, juicy, and sweet? I believe some of the most famous stalls treat their prawn with sugar and ice water, or perhaps they are just very fresh.
- Use lard if you can. That’s the secret for the rich silky taste.
- Very hot wok.
- Control your timing of cooking and hence control your “wok hei.”
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thanks for this recipe. Is this recipe similar to Char Kuey Kak using the cubed noodles instead of the flat Kuey Teow noodles ?
Hi Ken. Char kuey kak is made with radish rice cakes, and the ingredients are a little bit different from Char Kuey Teow. The base chili paste and sauce is similar. However kuey kak has chopped preserved radish instead of cockles and Chinese sausages.
Hi Bee! I wasn’t sure what kind of chillies to use for the chilli paste, so I used some dried California chillies for the dried part and birds eye chillies for the fresh. It was good, but not quite the flavor I recall from Malaysia. Any suggestions on the type of chillies to use? Or a good variety of prepared paste?
Do not use bird’s eye chilies on the fresh part. A big no no. Just use regular red chilies but not jalepeno. You can get those bigger red chilies at Asian stores.
Hi Bee
“Blood Cockles” rather than “Bloody Cockles”
Thanks for catching the typo.
I’m confused by the use of Chinese sausage. I questioned it when I read the recipe, when I bought the sausage, and when I was slicing it up. When I finally ate the dish, the sausage is the one thing that stands out as very odd. Maybe this is authentic, but it is a far better dish with beef. Honestly, Chinese sausage is trash. My wife is Chinese and she fully agrees. Also, I made the fatal error of not having the instructions with me when I started cooking. Lol. Do not do that – they are VERY important. Lol. The wind blew them away. Therefore I didn’t remember that I was supposed to cook each serving individually. Just a big old wok of food. Noodles broke up into small pieces and it was hard to manage. 100% my fault. But, the overall flavour is wonderfully spicy and fragrant (minus the sausage). Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks for your support.
My Chinese wife and I both think the comment about the sausage is outrageous but it made us laugh. We can’t imagine CKT without it, and this amazing recipe will hold us over until next time we get to Penang!
My Chinese wife and I both think the comment about the sausage is outrageous but it made us laugh. We can’t imagine CKT without it, and this amazing recipe will hold us over until next time we get to Penang!