Penang Food: Char Koay Teow
Written on 1:01 AM by Penang Tua Pui
Char Koay Teow (char koay tiao) is a local dish usually found in Malaysia and Singapore. Char Koay Teow literally means fried flat noodles in Hokkien with Char means “fried” and Koay Teow referring to flat noodles.
There are many variations of Char Koay Teow available but the famous one is no doubt the Penang Char Koay Teow.
Char Koay Teow consists of flat noodles fried together with prawns, cockles, egg, bean sprouts, Chinese chives and sprinkled with light as well as dark soy sauce which give to its colouring. Sometimes slices of chinese sausage and fish cakes are also included.
Duck eggs are sometimes used instead of chicken eggs too. Those who like it spicy can include chilies as well. The char koay teow is fried with intensely high heat and cooked within minutes.
What makes the Penang Char Koay Teow special? Well, for one Penang Char Koay Teow is usually fried using charcoal fire instead of gas fire. The scent of burning charcoal frying up the koay teow and the banana leaves which are used to place the koay teow on top of it, give a nice burnt aroma.
Another key ingredient to delicious char koay teow is lard, white cooking fat that adds more aromas to the char koay teow.
Trip to Penang is never complete until you have tried char koay teow and when you have, you will come back for more :)
Related Info
Recommend Store (more store will be updated)
- Snake Temple
- Anson Road Char Koay Teow
- A Leng Char Koay Teow
- Sister Char Koay Teow
- Penang Road
- New World Park
- Lorong Selamat ... :(
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There is a good char koay teow stall located obliquely opposite the Billon Supermart at Kota Permai(near Taman Saujana Permai), Bukit Tengah. Try it out!
Lorong Selamat eh macam L#@ ah neh. so lansi
The lansi auntie at Lorong Selamat sudah upgraded loh. I took some KL frenz over to Lorong Selamat last weekend (not my choice, but my KL frenz insisted since they heard so much abt it *frown*) and saw that the lansi auntie with the ridiculous-looking red beret and goggles is no longer at the same spot.
She moved down the road to a small coffee shop which sells nothing but her char kaoy teow.
My bet is that her lansi attitude must've gotten her into some arguements with the previous coffee shop owner or the other stall vendors that they kicked her out! Muahahaha!
How I wish that is true....the tot of her kena kick out simply gives me a kick! :D
Oh...one more story to share abt my char koay teow (CKT) experiences.
I also took my KL frenz to Sisters Char Koay Teow last weekend (oso cos they insisted, I never liked going to those seemingly-famous places!) and got some shitty treatment from them too.
There was 3 of us and my 2 frenz still had some of their coffee leftover from Starbucks (which was where we were at before heading over to Sisters CKT). They were planning to finish their coffee while having their CKT and order more drinks later when they're done with their coffee.
So, when we sat down at the table, I was the only one who ordered a drink. They both wanted to wait and order later. The kopitiam owners scolded us and said we cannot go there if we don't order drinks!
First, it was the auntie who scolded us...then her husband came over and scolded us some more before finally ending with "This time only I chin-chai. Next time I have to kick you folks out!!!"
I looked around the kopitiam to see if they put up any signs that says "No outside drinks" like some other kopitiam but I didn't see any. So, I felt it was not fair if they didn't put up any signs to warn their customers before telling the customers off.
I was sooooo embarrassed on behalf of ALL Penangites and just kept quiet while they scolded us :(((
If my KL frenz were not there, I would've scolded them back and walked out without bothering to eat the CKT. We locals know that there are many CKT stalls peppered all over Penang that taste better and cost only a fraction of what those donkey charge anyways!
*phai seh gila-gila*
There is a good char koay teow stall located obliquely opposite the Billon Supermart at Kota Permai, Bukit Tengah.Try it out!
At today lansi Lrg Selamat or Macalister Road Sisters'standards, this stall offers a good run for money!
Ask the seller to Char Koay Teow with big prawns and price of the Lrg Selamat lansi CKT auntie ... add alot of kuchai and average chilli hotness.. and there u are The best Char Koay Teow in Penang!