Char Kway Teow (Chinese Stir Fry Rice Noodles)

Welcome to Day 3, the final day, of our three part Malaysian Food Series! Check out Day 1, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Day 2, Spicy Water Spinach (Kangkung Belacan).

Char Kway Teow, which stands for "stir fried rice flat noodles" is a very popular street food in Malaysia.  It consists of these flat rice noodles stir fried in a very hot work with prawns, cockles, greens, bean sprouts, and eggs with dark soy sauce and spices!

Historically, fishermen and farmers would sell this savory, flavorful dish at night in hawker stands to supplement their daytime incomes. Traditionally, you stir fry the dish in pork fat, which makes it quite a rich dish (though I'm sure it's really really good!)

These days, most people have switched to using vegetable oil. Many versions include a fried egg as well, which adds back some of the flavor lost from the lard.

If you have all your ingredients ready to go for this dish, it actually doesn't take too long to cook. The frying step has to be quick and done in a really hot wok! You want there to be a char with the noodles - that's what makes this dish stand out!

I ended up buying sheets of rice noodles because I could not find pre-cut ones. I was able to find mine in Boston's Chinatown at Sun Sun Market, though you can probably find it in a lot of places. Cut noodles into 1/2 inch strips.

The rest is pretty easy. If you are experienced with the recipe and all your ingredients are ready to go, you should be able to cook this up reasonably quickly. In our case, since it was our first time and we didn't really know what we were doing, we took a little longer than normal.

We eventually felt like we had to take the shrimp out otherwise they would overcook. So, if you want to be safe, you can take the shrimp out too after you think they are done. Overcooked shrimp is rubbery, hard, and, frankly, can ruin the dish.

This dish is really like a normal stir fry, so it's not too hard. It's important to have a really hot wok or skillet (cast iron would be great!). In our case, I think our wok was not quite not enough, and thus we didn't get as much char as we would have liked.

The flavors were all there though, and my Singaporean friend blessed and approved the recipe. :)

Giveaway!

 Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions
This Malaysian series was inspired by a free review copy I got of Flavors of Malaysia by Susheela Raghavan. You can read a more detailed account of my thoughts regarding the book here. The publisher has been kind enough to provide me with THREE books to give away! I will be giving one away per day during this series - one for each dish I cook from the book!

The other two Giveaways are at the Hainanese Chicken Rice post (ends Wednesday, March 2, 2011!) and the Spicy Water Spinach (Kangkung Belacan) post (ends Thursday, March 3, 2011!).

For this giveaway, comment below and tell me your favorite Asian noodle dish! 

Man, this is too hard for me. I love glass noodles (like Korean Chap Chae) and rice noodles (like Char Kway Teow or Thai Drunken/Crazy Noodles). Finally, I LOVE glutinous rice cakes (like Chao Nian Gao 炒年糕) and, of course, hand-pulled noodles!

Giveaway ends Friday, March 4, 2011 at midnight! I reserve the right to pick another winner if I pick the same winner twice during this three-part giveaway series.

Char Kway Tweo

from Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions 

Ingredients

2-3 T cooking oil

1 T crusehd garlic cloves

8 oz (about 1 cup) shelled and deveined shrimp or thinly sliced chicken

2 T double black, thick, or sweet soy sauce

2 T regular soy sauce

1 tsp finely pounded white peppercorns, or 1/2 tsp finely ground white pepper

1/2 to 3/4 tsp white granulated sugar (use less if using thick or sweet soy sauce)

6 to 8 ounces Chinese flowering cabbage (choy sum) or Chinese cabbage (bok choy), or Chinese Mustard Greens (gai choy), stalks and leaves separated and washed to remove dirt

14 ounces fresh, flat rice noodles, already cut or cut into 1/2 -inch wide strips, rinsed in water

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups (4 1/2 ounces) bean sprouts, rinsed or blanched

Spice Paste

6 whole dried red chilies, steeped in hot water for 5-8 minutes and then deseeded; or 1 to 1 1/2 T of cili boh or 1/2 to 3/4 T bottled sambal oelek

Optional: 1 1/2 to 2 tsp dried shrimp paste (belacan) toasted at 400 ° F for 15 minutes; or whole dried shrimp, soaked in hot water for 5-8 minutes until soft, then drained

1/4 cup water

*for pictures of sambal oelek and belacan, check out the water spinach post

Garnish

1/3 cup sliced Chinese chives or spring onions

1 or 2 fresh red chilies, sliced 

1. Process Spice Paste ingredients to a smooth paste and set aside

2. Heat 1 T oil in a wok or skillet and saute garlic for about 1/2 to 1 minute, till light brown and fragrant. Add Spice Paste and remaining oil and saute for about 4 to 5 minutes, till fragrant (adding more oil if necessary)

3. Add shrimp or chicken and stir-fry for about 3 minutes for shrimp or 6 minutes for chicken, till cooked.

4. Stir in soy sauces, white, sugar, and Chinese cabbage stalks, and stir for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add noodles and coat well with sauce for about 2 minute. Add Chinese cabbage leaves, cover, and cook for about 1 minute, till greens start to wilt.

5. Uncover, push noodles towards edge of skillet/wok, add a little oil in center, add beaten egg and let set 1 to 2 minutes, then lightly scramble the egg till cooked and blend with noodles so egg coats noodles.

6. Toss in the bean sprouts, blend well and stir fro another minute or two. (Don't overcook, as noodles will get mushy if cooked too long)

7. Garnish with Chinese chives and chilies and serve hot

Enjoy!

Disclaimer

Time to time I receive free products, meals, etc. as a food blogger. I do not receive any payment for blog posts/reviews nor am I required to write a post when I receive free products, meals, etc. The views expressed in this post are completely my own. I was given a free review copy of the book.

Spicy Water Spinach (Kangkung Belacan) + Giveaway!

Welcome to Day 2 of our three part Malaysian Food Series! If you missed Day 1, Hainanese Chicken Rice, you can check it out here.

If you are Asian, you're bound to have heard of water spinach, or hollow heart vegetable (空心菜). Even though I don't know Southeast Asian food well, I instantly recognized this vegetable because we also eat it in Chinese cooking.  In fact, the water spinach is so prolific in Asia, it does not even need soil to grow, profusely thriving in marshy wetlands, rivers, and streams. In parts of the US, it has become so prolific that the USDA has official designated it a "noxious weed." It grows THAT easily.

Malaysia's version of this dish is called kangkung belacan. It is served all over Malaysia, from casual food courts to upscale hotel restaurants. Traditionally, this is a peasant preparation of the dish, though it has gotten trendy in recent years.

Let me tell you, if you are unfamiliar with Malaysian ingredients, it might be a bit frustrating the first time you go grocery shopping in a Chinese market. To be honest, I don't know how easy it is to get all these ingredients. I stumbled around Boston's Chinatown for quite some time, only to turn up relatively empty-handed. I was able to find Sambal Oelek (left) in the Chili Section, but it was hard finding everything else.

In fact, the belacan (dried shrimp paste pictured on the right) is from a store in Southern California. I have no idea where to get it in Boston. I seriously think it may just be less intimidating to buy all your ingredients online. At least you can just search for your term and order it!

Finding the ingredients was really the hardest part of this dish. Once you have everything, you just make a sauce by blending together aromatics, spices, and shrimp paste. Saute your vegetables with the sauce, add a few spices, and voila, that's it!

The belacan definitely adds a deep and flavorful umami to the entire dish that's really different from the Chinese version. Just a word of caution about belacan - this stuff is really really potent! It's got a really strong smell - definitely vent the place and maybe even open some windows especially if you plan on toasting it. Your toaster oven will smell like belacan for a while afterwards. We opened the windows even though it was below freezing outside!

The smell of the belacan lingered in our tiny little apartment for days.

Neverthless, the dish itself is still delicious and quite authentic. Our table of diners polished the whole dish off in no time.



Giveaway!

This Malaysian series was inspired by a free review copy I got of Flavors of Malaysia by Susheela Raghavan. You can read a more detailed account of my thoughts regarding the book here. The publisher has been kind enough to provide me with THREE books to give away! I will be giving one away per day during this series - one for each dish I cook from the book!

The first Giveaway is still going on: Click here if you want to enter that one as well.

For this giveaway, comment below and tell me your favorite Southeast Asian restaurant! If you don't know any Southeast Asian restaurants, just name your favorite Asian restaurant.

For me, I woefully have very little exposure to Malaysian food. In fact, I think the only restaurant I've tried is Penang (in both Harvard Square, Boston Chinatown, and New York City!). In all three cases I thought the food was delicious!

Giveaway ends Thursday, March 3, 2011 at midnight! I reserve the right to pick another winner if I pick the same winner twice during this three-part giveaway series.

Spicy Water Spinach 
from Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions

Ingredients
2-3 T cooking oil
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp turmeric powder or 1/2 tsp chopped fresh or frozen turmeric root (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch piece)
1 tsp regular soy sauce
1 T tamarind concentrate or tamarind juice extracted from pulp
1 small bunch (about 6-8 stalks with leaves, 8 ounces) water spinach, bottom stems trimmed about 1 to 2 inches and washed in water, swirling a few times to remove and dislodge dirt and sand
Optional: 1/4 tsp salt

Spice Paste
1/4 cup sliced shallots or onions
1 heaping tablespoon sliced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp sliced ginger or galangal
1 to 3 fresh red chilies (cayenne, Fresno, jalapeno, Serrano, Thai, or cherry), sliced
1/2 tsp dried shrimp paste (balacan) toasted at 400 °F for 15 minutes or 1 heaping tsp of dried whole shrimp, soaked in hot water for 10 min to soften and then drained
1/4 cup water

1. Process Spice Paste ingredients to a coarse paste

2. Heat 1 T oil in a wok or skillet and saute Spice Paste for about 5-6 minutes, till fragrant, adding 1 to 2 more T oil if needed. Add ground coriander and turmeric and stir for another 1/2 to 1 minute.

3. Add soy sauce and tamarind juice and stir for about 1 minute.

4. Add water spinach and stir for about 4 minutes, turning the leaves over often and coating well with sauce, till leaves wilt and become bright green with stems still retaining their crispiness. Add salt if needed.

Serve!



Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products, meals, etc. as a food blogger. I do not receive any payment for blog posts/reviews nor am I required to write a post when I receive free products, meals, etc. The views expressed in this post are completely my own. I was given a free review copy of the book.

Hainanese Chicken Rice + Giveaway!

I almost never ate chicken growing up.

My mom doesn't like chicken, and thus we hardly ate chicken at home. Furthermore, there just aren't nearly as many Taiwanese dishes made with chicken. Chicken wasn't nearly as available in Taiwan as, say pork, which is an essential ingredient in so many Taiwanese dishes. In fact, Bryan's dad talks about how in Taiwan, his family ate chicken only once a year as a treat, on his father's birthday.

For most of my life, I didn't love chicken because I also associated it with the dry and bland meat that you see in a lot of places. It wasn't until recently (for example, when I started playing around with sous vide), that I realized chicken can be just as juicy, tender, and flavorful as any other meat.

The other day, a Singaporean friend came over and we cooked up a bunch of Malaysian dishes from a new cookbook that I recently received. Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of Bryan's favorite Malaysian dishes, so I immediately opted to try that recipe.

What resulted was seriously one of the best (and simplest!) chicken dishes I have ever made.

Before I go on with the recipe, let me just say a few things about the book. I received a free review copy of Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions about a month ago.

I have very little experience with Malaysian food, so I invited my good friend Chia Chi, who is from Singapore, to come over and cook some dishes with me.  Aside from her lovely company and wonderful cooking skills, Chia Chi gave helpful insight regarding the authenticity of the recipes in the book.

The author, Susheela Raghavan, was born and raised in Malaysia and gives a lot of background about Malaysian food culture throughout the book. The book is full of information, over 300 pages filled with all sorts of Malaysian recipes, personal stories, and cultural insights. As Raghavan says herself in the introduction to her book, "This is not just a recipe collection, but a cultural and gastronomical journey through the centuries."

Accordingly to Chia Chi, all of the classic Malaysian favorites are in this book.  You've got a bunch of Indian-style recipes as well as Chinese-style recipes. There are all kinds of dishes, ranging from snacks, soups, salads, sauces, noodles, to all the various meats. There are separate sections for desserts and fusion cuisine, as well as sections highlighting certain festivals. The center section includes a collection of beautiful color photographs, all taken by the author herself.
  
The flavors of the dishes we made are pretty authentic, although the author herself says that she has toned down the spice levels to accommodate western palates.

Overall, we found the recipes to be very easy to follow.  The book is organized neatly with the recipe amounts listed on a separate column from the rest of the text. Her measurements are often given in ranges, which is very typical of Asian cooking (my mom never measured ANYTHING!). As an inexact cook myself, I appreciate the ranges. It tells me which parts of the recipe are more flexible and frankly, it makes me a lot less relaxed when I'm measuring stuff!

Chia Chi and I had no trouble following this recipe, and the Hainanese Chicken and Rice came out beautifully. The chicken was juicy and flavorful. Everyone who was there (even Bryan, my harshest critic!) thought the chicken was delicious.

The chicken rice was also fluffy and fragrant, although one diner commented that it did not have as strong of a chicken fat flavor.  I think that's mostly because I purchased an organic free range chicken which does not have as much fat as a typical supermarket chicken. On the flip side, the flavors of the poached chicken were very nice. I seriously think you get what you pay for when it comes to the inherent flavor of the chicken - organic free range has an edge.

GIVEAWAY!
The publishers of this book were kind enough to give me three books to give away! I will be hosting a new giveaway for the next three days (one book per day!) as part of a three-part Malaysian Food Series. Each day I will describe a different dish I made from the book.

To enter the Giveaway
Please leave a comment below telling me what your favorite Malaysian dish is. If you are not familiar to with Malaysian cuisine, tell me your favorite Southeast Asian dish, or Asian dish of you are not familiar with Southeast Asia.

Me?

My favorite dish is Popiah, a fresh spring roll filled with pork, cilantro, peanuts, sugar, hoisin sauce, vermicelli, bean sprouts, cabbage, and carrots. I first had it at a food stall in Singapore and fell in love! It wasn't until years later that my mom taught me how to make my own!

You may submit comments until midnight, Wednesday March 2, 2011, at which time I will do the drawing.

Update! Congratulations to the first Flavors of Malaysia cookbook winner - bunster10!

bunster10 said, "I've only had a few opportunities to try Malaysian cuisine. I think the last time I did was on a trip to Hawaii. We decided to try a Malaysian restaurant. I don't remember what the dishes were but they were all very tasty!"

There are still two books to give away. Click here and here to enter!

If you are interested in Malaysian food in general, check out Malaysia Kitchen for the World, a global initiative of the Malaysian government that aims to educate and inform consumers about Malaysian cuisine and Malaysian restaurants throughout the world.


Hainanese Chicken Rice
from Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes, and Traditions

Chicken
1 4/12 lb whole chicken
1-2 T finely crushed fresh ginger
2 heaping T finely crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped scallions or spring onions
1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper
12 tsp salt
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp regular soy sauce

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. After removing the "innards" pack, stuff the cavity with 1 T each of ginger, garlic, and scallions. Rub the whole chicken (including the cavity) with white pepper and salt. Set aside.

2. Bring 13 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Lower heat and add remaining ginger, garlic, and scallions. Simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Place entire chicken into the pot, making sure it is fully submerged. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let steep for an additional 15-20 minutes.

4. Remove chicken from the pot, reserving the stock.

5. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Alternatively, if serving cold, plunge the entire chicken into ice water and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

6. Brush the chicken with sesame oil and soy sauce. Set aside. Before serving, cut up the chicken into pieces.

Rice

1 T cooking oil

1 T sliced and crushed garlic cloves

1 heaping tsp crushed fresh ginger

Heaping 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots or onion

1 cup Jasmine rice, washed and rinsed

1 1/2 cup reserved chicken stock

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 Pandan leaf, tined with fork and tied into a knot

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Saute garlic and ginger for about 1/2 to 1 minute. Add shallots/onions and saute 1-2 minutes.

2. Stir in rice and saute until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups reserved chicken stock, salt, sesame oil, and pandan leaf (see photos above for how to tie)

3. If you have a rice cooker: put the contents in a rice cooker and cook until done.
If using a stovetop: Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes (until all liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked). Remove from heat and let rice cook in its steam for about 10 minutes.

Soup
4 cups reserved chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 finely ground white pepper
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp chopped garlic cloves (optional)
1 tsp chopped or crushed ginger (optional)

Place all ingredients in a pot, stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Garlic with scallions and serve.

Dip #1: Savory Chile Sauce / Sos Lemak
1/2 cup chicken stock
6 fresh red chilies (Fresno, jalapeno, Serrano, cayenne, THai, or cherry peppers), finely chopped
1 heaping T chopped or crushed garlic cloves
1 T chopped or crushed ginger
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice
2 tsp cooking oil or fat skimmed from boiled chicken stock

Dip #2: Pounded Ginger in Flavored Oil
4 heaping T chopped or crushed ginger
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp  freshly squeezed or bottled lime juice
1 tsp regular soy sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil

Dips
Combine all ingredients together and mix well.  Let stand 30 minutes before serving.

Put it All Together
Serve with chicken, soup, and the two dips.

Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products, meals, etc. as a food blogger. I do not receive any payment for blog posts/reviews nor am I required to write a post when I receive free products, meals, etc. The views expressed in this post are completely my own. I was given a free review copy of the book.

Penang

I've always found that it's more fun to go to Penang with my Singaporean or Malaysian friends. They seem to know what to order, and they always do a better job of picking out scrumptious foods for us to enjoy. This past weekend I was able to join a group of 10 people (including a Singaporean!) to dine at Penang. Of course, we put him in charge of ordering. :)

From top, left to right:

ROW 1
Pineapple fried rice
Shrimp, squid with shredded pineapple, vegetable, & egg in fried rice
Yam pot
Shaped fried taro stuffed with corn, snow peas & black mushroom topped with cashew nuts
Chow kueh teow.
Malaysian famous stir fried flat rice noodles with fresh shrimp, squid, bean sprouts chives, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste

ROW 2
Kang Kung Belacan
Sauteed convolus with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce
Hainanese Chicken with rice
Steamed chicken (with bone & skin on) with Chef's soy sauce

ROW 3
Mango Sticky rice
Penang Style Striped Bass with Special Sauce
Homemade Roti Canai (Indian pancake)

All of the food was quite tasty, but my favorites were the Homemade Roti Canai (I always get this), the Kang Kung Belacan (the shrimp paste adds an amazing salty umami flavor to the vegetables - very good), and the chow kueh teow.

I believe this favorites list is more personal preference than a reflection on the quality of any of these dishes. Several of my Singaporean and Malaysian friends vouch for this place and say that it's quite authentic and good (even if everything costs about triple what it would cost in Singapore).

This is a great place to visit, especially with a group, since it's fun to try a bunch of new dishes family style.

Penang
685 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111-1611
(617) 451-6373

Penang

I've always found that it's more fun to go to Penang with my Singaporean or Malaysian friends. They seem to know what to order, and they always do a better job of picking out scrumptious foods for us to enjoy. This past weekend I was able to join a group of 10 people (including a Singaporean!) to dine at Penang. Of course, we put him in charge of ordering. :)

From top, left to right:

ROW 1
Pineapple fried rice
Shrimp, squid with shredded pineapple, vegetable, & egg in fried rice
Yam pot
Shaped fried taro stuffed with corn, snow peas & black mushroom topped with cashew nuts
Chow kueh teow
Malaysian famous stir fried flat rice noodles with fresh shrimp, squid, bean sprouts chives, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste

ROW 2
Kang Kung Belacan
Sauteed convolus with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce
Hainanese Chicken with rice
Steamed chicken (with bone & skin on) with Chef's soy sauce

ROW 3
Mango Sticky rice
Penang Style Striped Bass with Special Sauce
Homemade Roti Canai (Indian pancake)

All of the food was quite tasty, but my favorites were the Homemade Roti Canai (I always get this), the Kang Kung Belacan (the shrimp paste adds an amazing salty umami flavor to the vegetables - very good), and the chow kueh teow.

I believe this favorites list is more personal preference than a reflection on the quality of any of these dishes. Several of my Singaporean and Malaysian friends vouch for this place and say that it's quite authentic and good (even if everything costs about triple what it would cost in Singapore).

This is a great place to visit, especially with a group, since it's fun to try a bunch of new dishes family style.

Penang
685 Washington St
Boston, MA 02111-1611
(617) 451-6373