Friday 2 December 2016

Grandma's Char Koay Teow


OK, I experimented again with grandma's recipe. This time I must say that I am 90% near the taste of grandma's fried koay teow

I think I may have been too stingy with the shallots and garlic, which impaired the taste quite significantly. And oh, let me show you my new toy.

Tadaa....

Ini gara-gara Lazada Online Revolution. Berbaloi Kak Oi.
hee..hee..hee... No more arm power to pound my spice paste. Just push down the bullet thingy and then krenh..krenh...krenh...

Siap!
Actually it is not that easy because you need to shake it a bit to distribute the ingredients evenly. I still need to get used to it. What I like is it comes with a cover and you can stash your spice paste in the fridge until later.

This time in addition to chicken, I also added some prawns which elevated the fried koay teow to a different level heh..heh...

Gaul dulu dengan kicap. Ini gara-gara skodeng blog  Ticer Azimah

I learnt that before you fry the koay teow, season the whole lot with soya sauce first. I rinsed the koay teow before doing this to get rid of some of the oil and weird smell.

I fried the prawns first and set it aside before frying the spice paste and chicken. My fried koay teow behaved itself quite well in the wok. It didn't get all mushy and I kept stirring until it was fairly dry (the way I like it).


Grandma used to add beansprouts but since I did not have any and did not want to buy a big packet, I left it out. At the last moment I felt that the koay teow could benefit from some fish sauce, so I added a few dashes.

I finished one big plate (with sweet chili sauce for some kick) and I thought it was fairly good. I should have made some condiment for the koay teow. Grandma's standard go to condiment is sliced chillies and chopped garlic added into a vinegar, light soya sauce and sugar mixture. It is sour, salty and sweet with the pungency of garlic and a kick from the chilies.


The recipe below is adjusted to include more shallots and garlic. I think it should be perfect, almost.

Grandma's Char Koay Teow
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 1 packet koay teow (480g), rinsed and drained
- half a chicken breast, diced and seasoned with some garlic and light soya sauce
- 10 prawns
- some mustard greens (sawi)
- 2 tbsp light soya sauce
- 2 tbsp Terengganu kayciap or kicap manis 
- some dark soya sauce for color
- 1 tbps fish sauce

Spice paste, blended:
- 4 red chillies (or more)
- 10 shallots
- 5 cloves garlic

Method :
1. In a mixing bowl, mixed koay teow with the light soya sauce, sweet soya sauce and dark soya sauce. Set aside. 
2. Heat oil in wok and fry the prawns until cooked. Remove and set aside.
3. In the same wok (add more oil if necessary), fry the spice paste until aromatic and cooked through.
4. Add chicken, saute and some water to simmer until cooked. 
5. Add mustard greens, fry till wilted
6. Add koay teow and fish sauce. Stir fry to mixed everything together.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning.
8. Add prawns and continue to stir until koay teow if fairly dry.
9. Serve.

50 comments:

  1. good idea to season the koay teow first before frying, the timing of frying has to be right as well, I still could not handle it, always get them mushy up.

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    Replies
    1. It takes some practice to get it right :)

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  2. OMG!!! So much the ingredients! Just like when my missus cooks. I, very jimat one - also nice what. Hehehehehe!!!!

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    1. Sometimes those with less ingredients taste nicer, that depends of who fries it. I am sure yours is jolly good!

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  3. Drooling all the way from Singapore to Malaysia, hehe...

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  4. Yes Phong Hong, your grandma's CKT is very close to Malay style CKT. If it is you are very close to it so long as you use kicap manis.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! Yes, Malay style is like this. Must have chilies, garlic and onions. And of course the kicap manis.

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  5. Looks good! Now if you'd just add a bit of lard :P

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  6. Since you're 90% near your Grandma's fried kway teow, the next time you fry it, it'll be 100% for sure...hehe! :D I've not seen char kway teow being done by stirring the kway teow with soya sauce first (at least not the version by Chinese hawkers) but I've seen it done to kway teow for Cantonese wat tan hor though (that's how they get the colour onto the kway teow for the kong fu chow.

    Oh dear, I see your new toy...and my heart breaks...coz I have that also...and it turned out to be one of my worst buys ever. Let me tell you why. If you leave it on (for a somewhat lengthy period) to say pulse your spice paste, you can smell burnt rubber emitting from the gadget (at least mine did). So, you can't use it for long periods like a blender...unless I'm not using it correctly. Mine came with a set of 2 containers (one big, one small) for spice paste blending, something like 5 cups and a tall jar (supposedly for blending fruit juices). I tried it and it didn't work. It was very difficult to get any juice from the fruits and then you can't turn it on for too long otherwise the burnt smell comes again. I'm not sure if it's safe (unless I got myself a faulty one), so I turn it off immediately. It's now a useless tool in my kitchen except for some quick pulsing of garlic (to make minced garlic) and that's the only thing it's resigned to doing now, so it's practically a useless gadget for me! :'( I guess I was attracted by the sheer no. of containers I could get in this set. Hope it turns out better for you (do let me know how it goes) ^_*

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    Replies
    1. Really?? I have not used for making juices or smoothies yet. After I opened the package I realised that I don't really need so many cups. It takes up quite a bit of space. Let me try the other functions and see if it works properly and if there is any burning smell. My auntie has one and she seems happy with hers.

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  7. My mum seasons the mihun with soy sauce first too before she cooks it. CKT looks good ;)

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  8. Looks good! Must taste good too! With fish sauce it may taste like Thai style stir fry kway teow.

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    Replies
    1. It did taste good though not exactly like grandma's.

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  9. grandma's recipe looks like a really good home-made version, a pleasant change from the ckt that we'd find in kopitiams :) my own grandma would certainly approve! :)

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    Replies
    1. Glad to know that grandmas approve of this recipe :D

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  10. I had that gadget before but when I tried to use it sonetime this year, it was not working. Thrown it away.

    Bravo. Practice makes perfect. I am sure you will do it 100% and make your grandma proud.

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear, that's too bad :(

      I will give the CKT another go later and improve on it :)

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  11. Your CKT looks delicious and I thought I could smell the freshly fried koay teow! I am not good in frying koay teow at all!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Nancy :) I was hopeless with koay teow too but I seem to have improved hah..hah...

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  12. Hi PH,
    malam2 tengok koay teow.,dan2 rasa lapar..tambah plak bumi Pulau Pinang sedang hujannnnn...sejukkkk..

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lina! Kan? Time sejuk2 perut cepat lapar :D

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  13. Delicious plate of kuey teow! Yup, sometimes kuey teow do have the weird smell! I agree! A new kitchen toy! I stopped pounding my spices decades ago! haha! Now instead of having lean muscle arms, I have fatty arms! Used to giling rempah with the batu giling when I was young. Those were the days!
    Enjoy your new kitchen toy!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Joyce! hee..hee.. my lesung batu is having a vacation right now. But seriously, rempah pounded by hand is more aromatic.

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  14. I have just booked a flight to PJ, wait for me ah CKT

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  15. Your CKT looks very delicious! Must bookmark this recipe to try. Thanks Phong Hong for sharing your grandma's recipe :D

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    Replies
    1. You are welcome, Ann. Hope you like it :)

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  16. KT not easy to stir fry... I miss my mom's cooking on this... so far, never took any homecooked KT after she left... Yes, I must try this when I have the time.. hahaha...

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    Replies
    1. You just go out and eat lah, no need susah2 hah...hah...

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  17. Grandma must be very proud to see your ckt. I can never fry a decent plate of ckt without the kuey teow breaking into pieces. Thanks for sharing. Oh I like your new toy, they do come very handy in the kitchen. Have a great weekend Phong Hong.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Veronica :) My new toy saves a lot of time and energy hee..hee..

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  18. Tq follow my tip, but its quiet ok kan,and ofkos i rinsed it first before seasoning it, its so berminyak kan.

    Ooh..your kew tiew looks yummy..but where is kerang? Kew tiew mor umpph with kerang.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your tip Ticer Azimah. No kerang because I couldn't find any :(

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  19. Perghhhh lapor tengok kuay teow ko ptg hari ni PH..
    Hasil skodeng blog azimah rupanya..
    Letak kerang lagi power tu PH..
    Ticer zimah dah komen tu 😆😅

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    Replies
    1. hee..hee.. nasib baik ticer tak marah :D Ya lah, kalau ada kerang lagi terangkat.

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  20. I see that you have added lots of hor liao ... yummy ! Seeing this plate of ckt at this time really makes me hungry!

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  21. Tengok u punya kuew teow teringat kuew teow kat kedai pagi tadi, masa mencari ikan. I nampak kuew teow dia mcm fresh sangat PH. Mcm baru buat. Mmg jarang sangat jumpa kuew teow macam tu kalau beli kat Aeon atau Tesco...

    Teringin jugk nak beli tapi tak jadi huhu....

    Kurang umph kuew teow kalau tak de togehkan PH...

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    Replies
    1. Kalau nak yang fresh, kena pergi pasar, tu yang PH malas. Betul tu, Hainom, takde tauge macam tak kena.

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  22. What's better than homemade CKT right?
    Can put in whatever 'liu' we like!

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  23. So delicious and almost fried to Grandma's perfection. I cannot eat without beansprout!! Hey, the Hollywood should hire you to do voice-overs - krenh..krenh...krenh...!!!! LOLOL

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    Replies
    1. hah..hah... I wanted beansprouts but it is sold in a big bag and I can't finish all.

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  24. I know koay teow is very hard to fry, it tend to stick on the wok.

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    Replies
    1. Can use non-stick wok or if regular wok is well seasoned, it does not stick so much.

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