Char kway teow
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Char kway teow
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| Traditional Chinese: | 炒粿條 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 炒粿条 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning: | fried string | ||||||||||||||
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| Alternative name in Cantonese-speaking regions |
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| Traditional Chinese: | 炒貴刁 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 炒贵刁 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning: | no literal meaning (see Etymology) |
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Char kway teow, literally "fried flat noodles", is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia and Singapore. The dish is made from flat rice noodles (河粉 hé fěn in Mandarin Chinese) of width approximately 1 cm or slightly narrower, stir fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chilli, prawns, cockles, egg, bean sprouts and Chinese chives. Variants may include serving the dish with slices of Chinese preserved sausage and fish cake. It is fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, giving it a characteristic taste.
Char kway teow has a reputation of being unhealthy due to its high saturated fat content. However, when the dish was first invented, it was mainly served to labourers. The high fat content and low cost of the dish made it attractive to these people as it was a cheap source of energy and nutrients. When the dish was first served, it was often sold by fishermen, farmers and cockle-gatherers who doubled as char kway teow sellers in the evening to supplement their income.
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[edit] Etymology
The term "Char kway teow" is a transliteration of the Chinese characters "炒粿條", based on the Min Nan spoken variation of the Chinese language. More precisely, "炒粿條" is pronounced as chhá-kóe-tiâu? in Min Nan, and cháo guǒtiáo? in Mandarin.
However, as Char kway teow was brought from Min Nan-speaking regions to Cantonese-speaking regions, the Chinese name was corrupted as "炒貴刁". This is pronounced as caau2 gwai3 diu1? in Cantonese and cháo guìdiāo ? in Mandarin. "貴刁" has no literal meaning, but its pronunciation in Mandarin is similar to "粿條" in Min Nan.
Moreover, "Char kway teow" is often known as "Singaporean Char kway teow" (星州炒貴刁) or "Malaysian Char kway teow" (馬來炒貴刁) in Hong Kong, in order to emphasize the origin of the dish.
In Vietnamese cuisine, a similar stir fried noodle dish is called hủ tiếu.
[edit] Variations
A variation is the gourmet version of char kway teow. This is commonly found in Ipoh and the island state of Penang, Malaysia. This version of char kway teow is sometimes fried with duck's eggs (for richer taste) and crab meat (for sweetness).
Another evolution of this dish is to fry the noodles without pork fat or lard. This evolution came about due to char kway teow's growing popularity amongst the Muslim community in Malaysia.
This dish is also popular in take away establishments in Australia and New Zealand.
In Myanmar, a variety called the Beik Kut kyae kaik (the Beik Scissor bite) exists. It is popular in the southern coastal regions around the town of Mergui (Baik is the Burmese pronunciation) and in Yangon, the largest city in the country.It uses more pepper and seafood compared to the kway teow of Singapore and Malaysia. The rice noodles are a bit thinner, and are fried with boiled soft brown peas, bean sprouts, squid and prawns, spring onions and dark sweet soy sauce. After being fried, the noodles are cut with scissors (kut kyae in Burmese), thus its name. In many Asian fusion restaurants in America, such as the popular Cafe Asia chain, this dish is offered under the name Gway Tiao.
Many Southeast Asian restaurants in Hong Kong offer char kway teow as a Malay specialty. The char kway teow served in Hong Kong is an entirely different dish: a Chinese-style stir fried flat rice noodles with prawns, char siu, onion, bean sprouts, seasoned with curry and is bright yellow in colour.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- What to look out for when eating Char Kway Teow
- Where to eat Char Kway Teow in Malaysia
- Singapore Tourism Board's Char Kway Teow recipe
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