Char Kuay Teow - Fried Rice Noodle With Cockles

Blogging motivates one to contemplate strange things. I can honestly say that if not for blogging, I would probably never ever think of making Char Kuay Teow by myself. For readers who are not living in Singapore or Malaysia, Char Kuay Teow is one of those iconic local street dish that practically everyone who has been away from home craves for. Possibly one of the most oily, unhealthy local street dishes which we can find in this part of the world, it is also one of those dishes that would set our saliva ducts active at its mere thought. Here in Singapore, we are always sussing out every possible Char Kuay Teow stores we can find and rank them according to taste and preference. Crazy is the one who contemplates to make it at home.. and here I am succumbing to the madness. Yes, blogging very often evokes madness in the blogger - I guess it stems from the urge to share something different,something suprising and when you see fellow bloggers such as Pig Pigs Corner who has recently made her own Bak Kwa(!!) (barbequed pork) , the feverish excitement rubs off on you... so really, frying your own Char Kuay Teow is really mild in comparison

The idea to fry Char Kuay Teow occurred to me when I saw cockles at the market this morning. It is not everyday that these are available. Cockles is easily the soul of Char Kuay Teow. To me,without this integral ingredient, Char Kuay Teow is just not the same. I bought a dollar worth of cockles and used a quarter of it for my Char Kuay Teow.


So how did my Char Kuay Teow turn out? Not impressive, I would say  - it was not oily enough and lacks the fragrance of lard, but I got my kick out of it and I think considering it is home made, it will still be able to elicit some appreciative gushing from supportive friends  

Recipe :

Water                      6 tbsp
salt                          1tsp
Lard/ Oil                 8 tbsp (I used less)
Garlic                      2 tsp minced
Bean Sprouts          310g
Flat Rice Noodle     310g
Dark Soya Sauce    2 tbsp
Egg                         4 beaten
Chilli Paste              1 tsp (I used sambal belachan)
Chinese Sausage      2, sliced and pan fried
Fish Cake                50g sliced.
Cockles                   115g
Prawns                     100g
Dark Sweet Sauce   1-2 tbsp

Method :

1. Mix water and salt together and set aside.
2. Heat wok still smoking hot. Add 4 tbsp of oil and add minced garlic. Fry quickly to light brown and add bean sprouts, Rice Noodle (Kuay Teow) and (1) and Soya Sauce. Fry quickly over high heat for 1 min.
3. Push Kuay Teow to one side of the wok, add the remaining 4 tbsp of oil, add the beaten egg and fry quickly. Fry Kuay Teow with egg.
4. Add chilli sauce to taste.
5. Add Chinese sausage, fish cake, prawns and fry for another 1 min.
6. Spread out Kuay Teow in wok and add cockles*, cover the cockles with the noodles. Add dark sweet sauce and fry for 1/2 min after homogenous. Dish out and serve.

* I soaked the cockles in salted water for 30mins. The salted water is drained off and boiling hot water is added to the cockles. Drain off hot water immediately. The cockles can now be pried open easily. Deshell and use the clam morsel for frying.