Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条

Char Kway Teow - 炒粿条 is one of the popular hawker food that is "flat rice noodles" being stir-fried over high heat together with dark soy sauce, Chinese sausage, deshelled cockles, egg and etc. Traditionally this dish is stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

Although at home, we might not be able to achieve that traditional taste of Char Kway Teow due to the wok, fire and ingredients used, but I am sure we still can whipped up something tasty and healthier using our modern utensils or choice of ingredients.

Ingredients: (serves 3 - 4)
500g Thin Flat Rice Noodle
10 Medium Prawns, shelled
200g Bean Sprouts
1 Chinese Sausage, cut into thin slices
1 Piece of Rectangle Fishcake, cut into thin slices
2 Eggs
2 Stalks Spring Onion, cut into section
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

For those staying overseas, if you cannot get hold of most of these ingredients shown above, you can always reduce the ingredients to the simplest 3 which is rice noodles, egg and choy sum/bean sprouts. As you can read from the list, I have omitted cockles which are not to our liking.

Sauce/Seasoning:
1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Sweet Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Water

Method:
1. Combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
2. Saute the Chinese sausage for a few second till fragrance, dish up and set aside.
3. Heat up the oil and fry minced garlic and spring onion till slight brown, add in rice noodles stir for a about 30 seconds before adding the prawn and fish cake.
4. Fry the prawns and noodles over high heat until prawns are seared then drizzle in the seasoning sauce.
5. Continue to toss them over high heat for a couple of minutes before spreading the noodle out over the wok.
6. Make a well in the center or push the noodles to aside , add in 1 teaspoon of oil at the side before cracking the eggs into it.
7. Stir to scramble the eggs and then combine with the noodles.
8. Add in the bean sprouts and season to taste with a pinch of salt(optional) and some ground pepper.
9. Add in the Chinese sausage, stir fry over high heat for a minute or so just to wilt the vegetables but retain their crispness.
10. Dish up and served with some cut chilli and soy sauce.

Note:
~ This dish is best fried in small batches(to achieve better flavour so that the rice noodles are evenly cooked, unless you are using a big wok then you can cook them in one batch) so divide the ingredients to be fried in two equal portion.

Now you can have your favourite Char Kway Teow at anytime of the day with minimum used of ingredients and seasons to achieve a healthier version that satisfy your crave for this dish.