Char Kway Teow please

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, my husband and I visited Penang Island this past weekend.  When planning our trip, many people had mentioned to us that we must try the Char Kway Teow in Penang, as this is a famous dish in this part of Malaysia.  Some even say that Penang dishes out the best Char Kway Teow in Asia!  So what is this dish?  Well, it’s a mixture of things…  First, Char Kway Teow means “stir-fried ricecake strips”…but to be honest, it just looks like fettuccine noodles in a brown sauce to me.  It is made from flat rice noodles and stir-fried over very high heat with egg, soy sauce, chili, a bit of belachan (shrimp paste), prawns (shrimp), deshelled cockles (small clams), bean sprouts and some chopped Chinese chives.  Typically Char Kway Teow is prepared at hawker (vendor) stalls along the streets and this is just where we enjoyed our Char Kway Teow this weekend.

Of course when we discovered that the best Malaysian Char Kway Teow was in Penang, we decided to find the best place in Penang to try it.  So, after a bit of research, we came across a famous hawker stall located not far from our hotel named Kafe Heng Huat.  Here you will find Madam Soon, who has been cooking up this famous dish for over 40 years.  (They say the secret is in the charcoal, as other vendors use a gas stove under their woks.)  Easily recognized by her goggles and famous red beret, Madam Soon was spotted right away when we walked up to her stall.  Unfortunately, she didn’t don the goggles that day, but the red beret was furiously flopping about as she swung her arms rapidly around the steamy wok.  When we walked into the cafe, there was no one to greet us, no friendly hellos.  We weren’t sure if we were supposed to order or just try and grab an available seat, so we opted for the latter before it was too late.  Boy, were we glad we did, because within minutes the place was swarming with people with not an empty seat in the house.  After placing our order with Madam Soon’s assistant, we waited patiently for our food to arrive.  While reading reviews online, we thought we were in store for a good 30-45 minute wait, since each dish is prepared in this single wok.  Luckily, we arrived before the rush and didn’t wait for more than 15 minutes.  Boy, was it yummy!

The famous WOK.

Inside the small cafe.

Of all the foods that I have experienced in Malaysia, this is one dish I will miss the most.  I foresee myself back in the States someday sitting at a table, day-dreaming of Malaysia and thinking, “Boy, I really wish I had some fried Char Kway Teow.”  Ha!

To see a video of Madam Soon in action, please click on the video below.