Char kway teow

Name: Char kway teow
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 plates
Cuisine: Singaporean
Ingredients: 500 g Flat rice noodles, fresh wide rice noodles, separated by hand; 3 tbsp Lard, or neutral oil; 3 clove Garlic, minced; 200 g Prawn, peeled; 2 piece Egg; 150 g Bean sprouts; 50 g Chives, garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths; 2 tbsp Dark soy sauce; 1 tbsp Kecap manis, for the Singapore sweetness; 1 tbsp Soy sauce; 1 tsp Fish sauce; 2 piece Fresh chilli, pounded to a paste with a pinch of salt, or 1 tbsp sambal; 0.5 tsp White pepper

炒粿条

Flat rice noodles fried hard in lard with dark soy, egg, prawns, bean sprouts and chives, the Singapore-Malaysia hawker classic.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 炒粿条.

Start cooking

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 10 min
Rest: None
Total: 30 min
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Mild
Cost: Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Char kway teow is wide flat rice noodles stir-fried over a very high flame in pork fat with garlic, dark soy, a little sweet soy, egg, prawns, bean sprouts and garlic chives. It should come off the wok dark, glossy and slightly smoky, with a few noodles charred at the edges and a few chewy. The Singapore style is sweeter and wetter than Penang's, with sweet dark soy in the sauce. Cook one portion at a time: a home hob cannot fry two without steaming the noodles. The whole thing takes four minutes once the ingredients are lined up.

What you'll need

13 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 13 ready

2 servings

Ingredients

Servings

Flat rice noodles, fresh wide rice noodles, separated by hand500 g
Lard, or neutral oil44 ml
Garlic, minced3 clove
Prawn, peeled200 g
Egg2
Bean sprouts150 g
Chives, garlic chives, cut into 4 cm lengths50 g
Dark soy sauce30 ml
Kecap manis, for the Singapore sweetness15 ml
Soy sauce15 ml
Fish sauce4.9 ml
Fresh chilli, pounded to a paste with a pinch of salt, or 1 tbsp sambal (optional)2
White pepper2½ ml

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Mix dark soy, kecap manis, light soy, fish sauce and white pepper in a cup. Loosen the noodles gently with your fingers; if they are cold and stiff, give them 20 seconds in the microwave first.
5 min
Step 2
Heat half the lard in a wok until it smokes. Add half the garlic and half the prawns and fry 30 seconds.
1 min
Step 3
Add half the noodles and half the sauce. Spread them over the wok and leave for 20 seconds to catch, then toss. Repeat twice.
1 min
Tip: Leaving the noodles still against the metal is what gives the smoky edge. Constant stirring gives you boiled noodles.
Step 4
Push the noodles up one side. Crack an egg into the space, break it with the spatula, let it set for 15 seconds, then fold the noodles over it. Add half the chilli paste if using.
1 min
Step 5
Throw in half the bean sprouts and chives. Toss for 20 seconds, no longer, and tip onto a plate. Wipe the wok and repeat for the second plate.
2 min
Watch: Fresh rice noodles tear if you stir them roughly. Lift and fold rather than scrape.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 571 kcal
Protein: 39.2 g
Carbs: 85.2 g
Fat: 7.9 g
Saturated fat: 2.1 g
Fibre: 4.8 g
Sugar: 12.8 g
Sodium: 2123 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Shellfish
Eggs
Soy
Wheat
Fish

Dairy-free

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 11 November.

Substitutions

Lard → Neutral oil
The dish loses its roundness. Add a few drops of sesame oil at the end to compensate a little.

Tips

Traditional extras: a handful of shucked blood cockles added with the sprouts, and a sliced lap cheong fried with the garlic. Add either if you can get them.
Render your own lard from 100 g of pork fat cut small; the crisp bits go on top.
Fresh noodles are sold refrigerated in Chinese grocers. Dried wide rice sticks, soaked, are a distant second.

History & culture

Hawker centre food, eaten at any hour, usually with a sambal on the side and a cold drink. The best stalls have a queue and a cook who has made nothing else for thirty years. Singaporeans and Malaysians each claim it, and within each country Penang, Ipoh and Singapore versions have their partisans. It is cheap, fast and not even slightly healthy.

Teochew and Hokkien labourers in the Straits Settlements fried leftover noodles with cheap fat and whatever shellfish was around, and sold it as a filling meal to fishermen and dock workers. Cockles and lap cheong sausage came from that era. By the mid-twentieth century it was a hawker staple on both sides of the causeway.

Traditional — Stalls add blood cockles and sliced lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and fry in lard with crisp pork lardons. Both are listed as optional extras in the tips; the recipe works without them.

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Char kway teow take?

30 min all in — 20 min prep, 10 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 2 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Medium.

How spicy is it?

Mild.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Shellfish, Eggs, Soy, Wheat, Fish. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free.

10 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Wok, Chef's knife.

How much salt do I put in?

This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Dark soy sauce — 2 tbsp; Soy sauce — 1 tbsp; Fish sauce — 1 tsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.

How much dark soy sauce?

2 tbsp of Dark soy sauce.

How much soy sauce?

1 tbsp of Soy sauce.

How much fish sauce?

1 tsp of Fish sauce.

What can I use instead?

Lard → Neutral oil. The dish loses its roundness. Add a few drops of sesame oil at the end to compensate a little.

What should I watch for?

Fresh rice noodles tear if you stir them roughly. Lift and fold rather than scrape.

Any tips from this recipe?

Traditional extras: a handful of shucked blood cockles added with the sprouts, and a sliced lap cheong fried with the garlic. Add either if you can get them. Render your own lard from 100 g of pork fat cut small; the crisp bits go on top. Fresh noodles are sold refrigerated in Chinese grocers. Dried wide rice sticks, soaked, are a distant second.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.