Char kway teow is a delicious stir-fried noodle dish made from flat rice noodles (also known as ho fun). Here the noodles are fried with prawns, Chinese sausage, egg and fish cakes. The whole dish comes together very quickly, so be sure to have everything prepped and ready to go.
This recipe is taken from Chinese-Ish by Rosheen Kaul and Joanna Hu (Murdoch Books, £22). Photography by Armelle Habib.
To make the chilli paste, blitz all of the ingredients together in a food processor to form a fine paste and set aside. You will need 1 tablespoon of this chilli paste (or sambal oelek, if using) for each portion of noodles. Store the remaining chilli paste in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week
To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside
Heat the lard or oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat until smoking. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant, 10–15 seconds, then add the rice noodles and egg noodles. Stir-fry over high heat for around 30 seconds, then add the Chinese sausage, fish cake and prawns. Continue to stir-fry over high heat until the sausage fat begins to render and the noodles are lightly charred, 2–3 minutes
Add the sauce and 1 tablespoon of the chilli paste or sambal oelek (use more if you want more heat) and toss to coat
Push the noodles to the side of the pan and add the beaten egg, bean sprouts and garlic chives. Fry for 30–40 seconds over high heat, until the chives begin to wilt
Mix everything together, then transfer to a plate and serve immediately
Char kway teow