🍜 Char kway teow

Name: Char kway teow
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: Malaysia · Penang
Ingredients: 400 g fresh flat rice noodles; 200 g raw prawns, peeled; 2 eggs; 150 g bean sprouts; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 1–2 fresh red chillies, chopped; 2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce; 1 tsp sugar; 2 tbsp vegetable oil; A handful of garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths

Origin: Malaysia · Penang

840kcal

per serving · 350 g

240kcal

per 100 g

32 gProtein9 g / 100 g

35 gFat10 g / 100 g

102 gCarbs29 g / 100 g

Char kway teow is a plate of flat rice noodles stir-fried over a fierce flame with prawns, egg, bean sprouts, chilli and soy sauce. The high heat gives the noodles a smoky, slightly charred taste known as wok hei, while the sauce makes them glossy and savoury-sweet. It is cooked to order one plate at a time and eaten hot, often with extra chilli on the side.

Diets

✓

No pork

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: shrimp

Not veganbecause of: shrimp, egg

Contains glutenbecause of: soy sauce

Not keto29 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Crustaceans ⚠ Eggs ⚠ Soy

What it is made of

rice noodlesshrimpeggbean sproutssoy saucechili pepper

Recipe

2 servings20 min

Ingredients

400 g fresh flat rice noodles
200 g raw prawns, peeled
2 eggs
150 g bean sprouts
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1–2 fresh red chillies, chopped
2 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
A handful of garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths

Method

Separate the noodle strands gently; mix the soy sauces with the sugar.
Heat a wok until smoking, add the oil, garlic and chilli and stir for 20 seconds.
Add the prawns and cook for 1–2 minutes until pink.
Add the noodles and the sauce and toss over high heat for 2 minutes, letting them catch slightly.
Push the noodles aside, crack in the eggs, scramble briefly, then mix through.
Add the bean sprouts and chives, toss for 30 seconds and serve at once.

How to make it lighter

Double the bean sprouts and chives and cut the noodles back by a quarter for more volume with fewer calories.
Use a non-stick wok and measure the oil: 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
Add extra prawns rather than more noodles to make the plate more filling.

History

The dish is usually linked to Teochew and Hokkien Chinese communities in Malaya and Singapore; 'kway teow' is the Hokkien name for flat rice noodles. It is often said to have started as cheap, filling street food for workers. Penang hawker stalls are now the best-known place to eat it, and Singapore has its own sweeter version.

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Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →