Penang Char Koey Teow

I like to use extra large prawn for my Char Koey Teow (CKT). I should have named it Penang Lorong Selamat Char Koey Teow!!!- The famous stall in Penang with "sombong" Auntie and over priced CKT. Many years ago it was about RM4~RM5 a plate, I don't know how much is that right now, may be RM7~RM8?? Why pay so high? We can make it our own with extra prawn too!!

I came from a hawker family, I grew up from a famous hawker center/food court in my home town. I liked watching how those hawker prepare the food, like Hokkien Mee, Jawa Mee, Ikan Bakar, Char Hor Fun, Hokkien Char, Char Koey Teow...etc. I was there until I finished my high school - 15 years of watching...LOL!! I will never forget how they control the heat, the timing of cooking. It is just become my instinct now.




Tricks to make a good CKT :

1. Sauce (everyone has their own secret recipe/ratio in sauce mixing, it is all about soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar)
2. Heat
3. Timing ( a plate of CKT should be done in approx. 3 minutes with appropriate heat The best way to learn is watch closely every time when you order CKT outside, compare the differences of the texture when you eat it at different places)
4. Use pork lard
5. Fresh ingredients


The recipe I am going to share today is from my relative. She is not as famous as Lorong Selamat Auntie, but has a good reputation too. Trust me, I was seriously thinking of selling CKT if I have never met Tom. I was so frustrated and tired of my work, and had deeply considered to switch my carrier. I used to worked 16 hours a day. My relative who is selling CKT works only 4~5 hours a day, 5 day week, and her income is more than those Manager levels...LOL!! Never mind, I think I will still want to sell CKT one day when I retire and move back to Penang with Tom.. :-) . Use extra large prawn for my CKT and sell it cheaper than Lorong Selamat CKT, I really "beh siok" - not happy with the owner! LOL!!!

Here's the recipe for the CKT sauce, you can mix extra and refrigerate it :

Mix and stir to blend well.
1. 2/3 cup soy sauce
2. 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3. 2 tbsp oyster sauce
4. 2 tbsp fish sauce
5. 1 tsp sugar


Ingredients for a plate of CKT :


1. 2~3 garlic - chopped
2. 3~4 extra large prawn (personal preference)
3. Bean sprout (soak in the water, when you add the bean sprout to your CKT, the water drip will keep your CKT moisture)
4. Fresh Koey Teow (keep in mind that if your koey teow have been kept in fridge, it will need longer time to cook through - probably extra 60~90 seconds)
5. Lap Cheong (Chinese Wax sausage) slices
6. Fresh cockles (I couldn't find it here, so I skip it)
7. Chinese chives
8. Pre-mixed CKT sauce
9. Chili Paste
10. An Egg
11. Some while pepper powder


Steps (I can not tell you exact timing when do you need to add the ingredients, it is all depending on the heat and experience, it should be done in approx 3 mins for a plate of CKT, like I said before - watch closely how those hawker prepare your CKT) :

1. Heat up the pan
2. Add a table spoon of oil/pork lard (those hawkers usually add more than that)
3. Add garlic, then prawn (stir for few seconds)
4. Add 1/2 of your bean sprout
5. Add koey teow, immediately follow with a 1~1.5 table spoon of the CKT sauce, chili paste, stir to coat well.
6. Stir the koey teow to the side of the pan, grease the middle of the pan with some oil, drop an egg, few drops of CKT sauce, some white pepper.
7. Cover the egg with the koey teow, immediately add in cockles, lap cheong, another half of bean sprout, chives.
8. Stir to mix well, remove from heat and serve warm.

Pumpkin Congee + Stir Fried Pickled Mustard (南瓜粥配素炒酸菜)

The weather here is getting warmer. I am not feeling well, have no appetite to eat anything fancy. Since today is our vege day, I made something light and easy - pumpkin congee and kiam chai (pickled mustard). Simple delicious!



这几天气温比较高了...没什么胃口.., 既然今天是初一, 不吃肉, 就煮简单和清淡一点吧...

南瓜粥配素炒酸菜, 酸菜还蛮开胃的....我和TOM一天里面竟然把一大碗的酸菜给扫光了...呵呵..
我喜欢用南瓜来褒粥, 吃起来有点甜甜棉棉的...健康又美味!


Pumpkin congee
- 3/4 cup of rice - washed and rinsed
- 1500ml water (or as desired)
- few drops of vegetable oil
- 400 g pumpkin (with skin) - cut to approx. 2 inches cube.
- some Goji berry - optional

Steps - boil the water and rice with few drops of oil, switch to low heat and cook for 20 minutes. Add in pumpkin cubes, continue to cook for another 60~80 minutes. Add in Goji berry 10 minutes before remove from heat.

Stir fried pickled mustard.
1. 300g pickled mustard - pre-soaked in the warm water for at least 1 hour, rinsed once, cut to strips, wash again, rinse and squeeze out the excessive water.
2. Oyster mushroom - thinly sliced
3. 百页豆腐 (not sure how to call this in English) - thinly sliced
4. 3~4 chili padi or red chili - sliced
5. 1/2 inch of ginger - striped
6. 3 garlic - chopped
7. 1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
8. Some soy sauce to taste (omit if the pickled mustard is salty enough)
9. a dash of sugar
10. some green onion for garnishing
10. some water

Steps :
1. Heat and grease the pan, fragrant the ginger and garlic. Add in chili slices, quick stir for 20 seconds.
2. Add in the mushroom and tofu slices, vege. oyster sauce and some soy sauce, stir fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add in picked mustard, sprinkle some water. Stir fry for another 3~5 minutes.
4. Season with some vege. oyster sauce, dash of sugar, soy sauce (if needed).
5. Garnish with some green onion, remove from heat.

蟹肉粉丝豆腐汤(Crab meat tofu soup)

有没有很像鱼翅汤啊??? 吃起来味道也很像哦....Shark fin soup???

This is the soup I like to make whenever I am craving for shark fin soup. Tom actually like it better than the real shark fin soup because of the cruelty how we treat the sharks just to get the fins. I added silken tofu just to enhance the smoothness texture, you can omit it if you want to make it more real like shark fin soup.



其实鱼翅吃起来真的没有什么味道, 为了减少那么一点罪恶感, 我还是用粉丝来代替好啦. TOM还蛮喜欢的. 你不妨一试? 我加了嫩豆腐是因为我喜欢滑顺的口感, 如果你想让它更像鱼翅汤, 你可不必加豆腐.


1. Chicken stock - 500~600ml
2. Dried scallop - 1 (optional)
3. Bean thread (粉丝) - 20g- pre-soaked and cut to about 3~4 inches strips.
4. Frozen crab meat - 300g (I like it more!!!) - thawed
5. Silken tofu (嫩豆腐) - 120g - cut to 1/3" cubes
7. Salt to taste
8. Corn starch water for thickening
9. Some Shao Xing wine
10. Black vinegar / Balsamic Vinegar


Steps :

1. Boil the chicken stock with dried scallop, add in bean thread, cook over low heat for 10~15 minutes.
2. Add in crab meat, cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Slowly stir in tofu cubes, bring to boil again.
4. Salt to taste, thicken the soup with corn starch.
5. Add some Shao Xing wine (1~2 tsp).
6. Serve hot with some black or balsamic vinegar