Penang Char Koay Teow (Flat Rice Noodles)

The ever famous Penang Char Koay Teow, makes me salivate every time I see or smell it! I am not a picky eater but I am real fussy about my plate of char koay teow. I remember during my school days in Convent Green Lane, there was this school canteen hawker who serves a to-die-for wet char koay teow. Hungry like a cow after school, I always must have a plate at least 3 times a week. Sometimes, I cannot wait so long and just had to have a dose of it during recess time when the canteen is usually ever so crowded. I always thought lining up for my plate of koay teow was a game of ‘squeeze-in-queue’ and have to say it’s the survival of the most determined.I must say until to date, I am yet to savour a plate of the authentic “Convent Green Lane Canteen Char Koay Teow” as how I remembered.

Ingredients

Recipe below is fried according to 1 individual portion
1 packet of Koay Teow noodles (flat noodles) serves 5 portions

5 peeled and de-veined prawns (leave tail intact)
1 Tbsp Chili paste (optional)
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 handful of flat noodles
a dash of dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 handful taugeh (beansprout)
1/2 handful garlic chives (cut to the length of beansprout)
1 egg
sea salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat grape seed oil in a wok, throw in the chopped garlic and chili paste.
2. Stir 30 seconds add prawns.
3. Stir 1 minute and put in the koay teow, dark and light sauce and stir another minute.
4. Put in all the sprouts and garlic chives, stir 30 seconds and push all ingredients in the wok aside.
5. Crack an egg and stir in the free space created earlier in the wok. Slowly flip the koay teow over the quickly cooking egg. Splash some light soy on the eggs. (Careful not to over stir, may cause the eggs to be too scrambled).
6. Here, I add a little hot water to give it a wet style but if you prefer the dry burnt ones omit the water.

Note : I love my fried koay teow with large raw shelled cockles just covered with piping hot koay teow. The raw springy texture is just overwhelming! Sadly, I was very disappointed for I could not find any fresh looking cockles in the market today and most of them look so depressingly tiny. Life has to go on with or without cockles!