Char Kway Teow | Singapore Stir Fried Rice Noodles

How to make Char Kway Teow, a sinfully delicious Singaporean street food classic you can easily master at home!

Char Kway Teow is a Singapore and Malaysian hawker classic. This is a dish of flat rice noodles stir fried with succulent shrimps or prawns, eggs, chives and a blend of dark soy sauces over a high heat.

Char Kway Teow (or CKT) is beloved for its greasiness and ‘wok hei’ – which is this sort of almost burnt, charred flavour that tastes absolutely magical. Think steak over high heat, that crispy charred end of the steak? Wok hei is kind of like that.

In my humblest opinion, you can’t really make good hawker-style CKT at home. The ‘char’ or ‘wok hei’ in Char Kway Teow has to come from the grumpy uncle’s wok that has existed for, like, 10,000 years. Kidding. But you can make something close at home.

Why you will LOVE Char Kway Teow

• IRRESISTIBLE FLAVOUR: This noodle dish is an explosion of flavours. The combination savoury sweet soy sauces, spicy chilli paste, and the tender prawns with the soft, slightly chewy rice noodles create a harmonious flavour that will have you coming back for more!

• STREET FOOD CHARM: Whether enjoyed at a bustling hawker center or made at home, Char Kway Teow carries the charm of street food. It’s a quick, comforting, and accessible dish that’s perfect for satisfying cravings.

• QUICK & EASY: Char Kway Teow is unbelievably easy to whip up at home with just a few key ingredients that are pantry staples. As a stir fry, this gets you a hot plate of noodles in just 15 minutes.

• CUSTOMISABLE: This dish is easily customisable to suit individual preferences! You can use any other protein you like, adjust the sweet-savoury notes easily and tailor the spiciness to your liking.

Key Ingredients for Char Kway Teow

1. Kway Teow Noodles

You need rice noodles or kway teow for Char Kway Teow. Kway teow is a type of rice noodle that is flat and wide. There’s another version of it called hor fun, which is much wider. You can use that as well for this dish. These broad, slippery rice noodles are the heart of Char Kway Teow. They soak up the flavours of the dish and provide a satisfying chewy texture.

Fresh noodles are preferred, but feel free to use dry ones if that is more accessible to you. Prepare according to packet instructions.

TIP! IF you have yellow Hokkien noodles, add a handful to your kway teow noodle mix! This will add a nice textural change – the soft chewy rice noodles with the firm bite of the hokkien noodles.

Can I use any other noodles? Yes! Even though the experience might be a little bit different, the flavours will all be there. I’ve used pasta in a pinch to incredible results!

2. Seasoning Blend

The flavour of Char Kway Teow comes from the seasoning blend, which fortunately are staples in Asian kitchens:

• Dark Soy Sauce: Dark soy sauce gives the dish its signature deep colour and contributes a hint of sweetness to the sauce. I sometimes use kicap manis (sweet soy sauce) instead, which is not as dark and thick as dark soy sauce.
• Light Soy Sauce: Light soy sauce provides saltiness and a savoury umami flavour, balancing out the sweetness of the dark soy sauce.
• Chili Paste (Sambal): Whenever you order this from a hawker stall in Singapore and Malaysia, you will always be asked “spicy?” Obviously, the answer is always a yes for me! The skilled Uncle will then spoon a dollop of sambal straight into the wok with all of the soy sauces. Use any Sambal of choice to add the much-welcomed heat and richness to the dish. Make a big batch of my Sambal recipe!
• Cooking Oil: A neutral cooking oil, like vegetable or peanut oil, is used for stir-frying the ingredients.

I love Char Kway Teow for its dark colour. Another seasoning sauce blend that I frequently go for would be this:

• Dark Soy Sauce
• Kicap Manis
• Fish Sauce

A blend of the thicker dark soy sauce, sweeter kicap manis and sharp saltiness and umami of the fish sauce is undeniable!

3. Proteins

The proteins used in Char Kway Teow are typically:

• Prawns: Plump, juicy prawns are a star ingredient in Char Kway Teow. Their sweet, briny flavour pairs wonderfully with the savoury sauce.
• Blood Cockles: While not as common anymore, cockles are added to further enhance that briny flavour to the dish.
• Fish Cakes: Completing the seafood theme are some sliced fish cakes. These are blocks of processed fish paste that are fried, adding a chewy texture to the dish. Some stalls may use fishballs instead.
• Chinese Sausage (Lap Cheong): Chinese sausage adds a unique smoky and slightly sweet flavour to the dish. Traditionally made of pork, so I don’t use this, but I have used chicken lap cheong before if I do come across it. I usually omit this ingredient. You can even use any other sausages you have.
• Eggs: Eggs are a MUST in Char Kway Teow for me! Luscious, eggy chunks with the noodles provide richness to the dish.

I personally feel the proteins are very easily customisable based on what you have, or your dietary preferences. Sliced chicken and tofu cubes are two more alternatives that will do well in CKT.

4. Vegetables and Aromatics

• Garlic: The main aromatic used for Char Kway Teow is just good ol’ garlic! I always add more because I love my garlic. Garlic cloves are minced to infuse the oil with their aromatic essence.
• Garlic Chives: Chives contribute a mild onion-garlicky flavour and a pop of green colour to the dish. I like to chop them to 2-inch lengths, but optional. You can replace chives with spring onions or green onions.
• Bean Sprouts: Bean sprouts add a refreshing crunch and balance out the richness of the other ingredients. You can also use other vegetable of choice, such as chye sim or bok choy.

FAQs

1. How to not get broken noodles when frying Char Kway Teow?

Fresh rice noodles can be rather fragile, so it breaks easily when you stir fry. To minimise breakage, you want to be gentle when stir frying the kway teow. Then again, you want to stir properly so that the sauces coat the noodle adequately.

My cop-out answer? Broken noodles are fine and almost always inevitable in good char kway teow! In fact, rarely do you find the long slurpy strands of kway teow noodles even from hawker centres!

2. How to Prepare Blood Cockles

Blood cockles, or ‘hum‘, used to be an essential ingredient in Char Kway Teow. These days, Char Kway Teow with blood cockles are not as commonly found at hawker centres.

I enjoy my Char Kway Teow with soft, bouncy bites of the cockles, but to be honest, I skip it, if I’m making this at home for myself.

It is too much of a hassle to prepare the cockles. The prep time for blood cockles is longer than making the noodle dish itself!

The Steps

I love cockles though, and if you do want to include it then these are the easy steps to prepping the cockles:

1. Rinse blood cockles under water, and try to remove as much of any mud on the shells.
2. Fill a bowl with water and submerge the cockles in the water. Add plenty of salt – about 5 tablespoons to 1 litre of water. Stir through, and leave this for about 10 minutes. It is ok if the salt does not fully dissolve. This draws out all the excess mud, muck and general grossness.
3. 10 minutes later, drain all of the liquid. Give the cockles a few more rinses under water. You would notice some cockles begin to open up. The blood cockles are considered clean.
4. To cook for use in Char Kway Teow, boil water first – enough to submerge the cockles in. I simply use my kettle. Pour the boiling hot water over the cockles in the bowl. Gently stir cockles in the hot water for about a minute, and drain the cockles once again. This will give you parboiled cockles. Deshell the cockles and keep the meat to one side. Discard the shells. Alternatively, you can also boil a pot of water and quickly dip the cockles in, depending on your preferred doneness.

Watch the recipe video for more detailed instructions.

3. Where’s the Lard? Use Chicken Skin or Fat Instead!

Traditionally, Char Kway Teow uses pork lard for that extra flavour and greasiness. This is why a plate of this can be SO sinful. Since I don’t consume pork, I fry up some chicken skin or fat instead! This is a pork-free, Halal version of Char Kway Teow that doesn’t discount on flavour.

Crispy, slightly chewy bites of chicken skin or fat – this is a treat I sometimes indulge in. You can deep fry the chicken skin, but why do that when you can use less oil AND have tastier Char Kway Teow?

How to render chicken skin or fat?

To do so, simply add chicken skin or fat to a dry pan, and use a very low heat to let it render. As the heat melts the fat into oil, the chicken skin will eventually crisp up in its own fat. It will take a while though, but the results are worth it.

With the chicken oil rendered in the pan, use it to make the rest of the Char Kway Teow.

I like to remove the chicken skin after it crisps up before cooking the Char Kway Teow, but if you can’t be bothered you can even proceed with the recipe without removing it, ala hawker-style with pork lard! The chicken skin will turn slightly chewy, but since the rest of the recipe are quick stir frying over high heat, it should not lose its crisp too much.

Use the chicken oil rendered to make the Char Kway Teow, and sprinkle the noodles with the crispy chicken skin. It’s insanely delicious!

What if I want to use pork lard?

The steps are the EXACT SAME if you were to use pork lard! Add pork lard to the pan, and allow the lard to render oil and cook in its own fat. Once the lard turns crispy and golden brown, and pan is filled with oil, take it off the pan. Use the oil for cooking the Char Kway Teow as per recipe.

What if I have neither?

No pork lard, no chicken skin? No problem! This recipe does not use these ingredients, and it’s still delicious – trust me!

More Recipes Like This

If you love this quick noodle stir fry, check these out too!

• How to make the Perfect Pad Thai
• Pad Kee Mao | Thai ‘Drunken’ Noodles
• Yakiudon | Stir Fried Udon Noodles
• Seafood Mee Goreng

Char Kway Teow | Singapore Fried Rice Noodles

Recipe by Sha

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Eats, Recipes

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 300 grams Kway Teow or Rice Noodles

• 2 Cloves Garlic

• 2 Eggs

• 1 tbsp Sambal Dried Chili Paste

• 2 tbsps Dark Soy Sauce

• 1 tbsp Light Soy sauce

• Cooking Oil

• Toppings:

• 4-5 shrimps, deveined and deshelled

• 1 fish cake, sliced

• 5-7 blood cockles, deshelled (or about 1 tablespoon)

• 1/2 cup of Bean Sprouts or Taugeh

• 2-3 stalks of Garlic Chives or Koo Chye, chopped into 2-inch pieces

• Vegetables of choice

• Bird’s Eye Chili (optional if you don’t want spice)

Directions

• In a pan, add lots of oil.
• If using the sambal dried chili paste, we are frying that first. Over low heat, stirfry the chili paste until it dries and turns a darker red, or when you see a layer of red oil pooling above the chili paste.
• Once that happens, turn up the heat to a medium and add in garlic, fish cakes, prawns, and the cockles. Stir fry that in with the chilli paste.
• Next, add in the Kway Teow Noodles and add Dark Soy Sauce and Light Soy Sauce. Stir to incorporate.
• Push noodles to one side, and scramble the eggs on the empty side. Add more oil if needed.
• Add in vegetables, including the Chives and Taugeh.
• Final touch of white pepper and you’re done.

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