Coming to Penang without tasting the authentic Penang char koay teow would be a waste. People from far away love coming back to Penang for more. But what is great about Penang char koay teow? Isn’t it just the flat noodle or what we called ‘koay teow’ fried together with egg, bean sprout, cockles etc in soy sauce? Well describing it is one thing but tasting it is another thing. As a local Penangites, I’ve tasted char koay teow from various states in Malaysia but none taste as good as the one from Penang itself. But what actually make Penang char koay teow the best? It is basically the way it is fried and the ingredients used. For a typical Penang char koay teow, ingredients used are basically egg (chicken or duck), taugeh, soy sauce, prawns, cockles, kuchai, slices of pork suasage, squid. Every plate of char koay teow is fried individually so that the koay teow is well mixed with all the ingredients, have the best texture and the minimal moisture. The difference between Penang char koay teow and the one from other states are that the koay teow is basically broken into small fragments during frying so that the eggs and other ingredients mixed well with the koay teow, it is drier and not having gravy like sauce. In Penang, you can find quite a number of famous char koay teow stalls. Some exists for several generations which proves its popularity. In the last decades, we could see that charcoal is used to fry the koay teow but these days gas stove is used. Some say it taste better with charcoal frying. Below are some of the famous char koay teow stalls around Penang.
Sin Hwa Cafe Char Koay Teow – 329 Jalan Burma, 10350 Penang, Malaysia
The Sisters Char Koay Teow – Macalister Road
Kafe Heng Huat Char Koay Teow – Lorong Selamat
If you come across any other Char Koay Teow stalls that you may like, share them here and add on to the list.