Char kway teow

Char kway teow, literally "fried flat noodles", is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia and Singapore. It is made from , approximately 1 cm or slightly narrower in width, fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, , prawns, s, , and . Sometimes slices of Chinese sausage and fish cake are added. It is fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, which give it its characteristic taste.

''Char kway teow'' has a reputation of being unhealthy due to its fat content. However, when the dish was first invented, it was mainly served to . 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 , farmers and cockle-gatherers who doubled as ''char kway teow'' sellers in the evening to supplement their income.

Etymology

The term "''Char kway teow''" is a transliteration of the Chinese characters "炒粿條", based on the Min Nan of the Chinese language. More precisely, "炒粿條" is pronounced as ''chhá-kóe-tiâu'' in Min Nan, and ''cháo guǒtiáo'' in .

However, as ''Char kway teow'' was brought from Min Nan-speaking regions to -speaking regions, the Chinese name was as "炒貴刁". This is pronounced as ''caau2 gwai3 diu1'' in and ''cháo guìdiāo'' in . "" 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''" or "Malaysian ''Char kway teow''" in Hong Kong, in order to emphasize the origin of the dish.

In Vietnamese cuisine, a similar stir fried noodle dish is called ''h? ti?u''.

Variations

A variation is the gourmet version of ''char koay teow''. This is commonly found in the island state of Penang, Malaysia. The version of ''char kuay teow'' found there is sometimes augmented with duck's eggs and crab meat .

Another evolution of this dish is fried without pork fat or lard. This evolution has come 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'' exists. It is popular in the souther coastal regions around the town of Mergui 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 , thus, it is given the name.