A Wanton Char Kway Teow Story

Sometimes a Singapore girl just needs Singapore food. What is Singapore food, you may ask. Now that is not so easy to define. It is a reflection of our heritage and our culture that is based on the major immigrant groups back when Singapore was still a British colony pre-1965. Our forefathers back then came via ships from parts of the then 'Malay Archipelago' which included Indonesia and the Riau islands, India and China. And Singapore, being a busy trading port back then (and still is the biggest port in the world in terms of volume), attracted various traders and even more immigrants from other parts of the world. They came, they worked and they stayed and they interacted and even learnt each other's languages and cultures. Which led to the rise of 'Singlish' as a form of communication (a mixture of English, Hokkien and Malay slang which is now an integral part of our culture). Not only did the cultures and languages mingled, so did the food. And thus, you have situations like this where a Singaporean girl with a Malay cultural background living in Germany hankers for 'Chinese food'. Specifically Char Kway Teow and Wanton noodles. Oh Hawker Centre uncle, where are you?

Having no luck with finding someone to cook what I wanted for me, I had to go pick up the ingredients from the Asian Supermarket and cook it myself (story of my life!). Luckily all I needed were dried rice noodles, sweet and salty soy sauces, frozen seafood and dumplings, eggs and a bottle of (damn shiok!) sambal (Malay-style chilli paste) that luckily, I could buy from my neighbourhood Malaysian restaurant. Thus it was on that cold Sunday night that I rolled up my sleeves, took out my trusty frying pan, channelled a hawker centre uncle and set to wok (forgive me, but how could I resist that pun?)

The result is just like a Singaporean - a mashup of cultures on a plate. Happy tummy makes a happy mummy. And happy kids too :-)

Wanton Char Kway Teow aka Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Soya Sauce, Prawns and Chicken Dumpling Topped with a Generous Amount of Chilli Paste, Spring Onions and Fried Onions too!

1/2 packet of flat rice noodles (it was just me and the kids)
5 tablespoons of thick dark sweet soya sauce
3 tablespoons of light salty soya sauce
A handful of raw prawns
6 frozen dumplings of your choice
About 3 tablespoons of oil for frying
1 or 2 eggs
1 fat clove of garlic, minced

Chopped spring onions
Fried onions
Sambal

Prepare to wok!! (Ok, ok I'll stop!)

Prepare the noodles according to packet instructions. Mine said just soak in warm or cold water.

Heat the wok with the oil. Don't be afraid to crank up the heat. When the oil is hot, add the minced garlic. Then add the noodles and soya sauce in quick succession. Mix well. Add more or less of the soya sauces as your taste buds deem fit. Then add the prawns and the dumplings and a little bit of water to let everything meld together. Stir, while enjoying the smell. When the prawns and dumplings are cooked, make a hole in the centre of the noodles and drop an egg into it. Scramble and then cover it with a noodles. Wait for a few seconds and scrape the bottom of the wok and turn the noodles and the egg over and over again, moistening the noodles. Turn of heat, and let the leftover heat cook the egg while it clings onto the noodles. Note that all this should take about 10 minutes or slightly less, depending on how hot your stove gets. A slightly burnt flavour is actually rather desirable as it adds another depth to the taste sensation.

Pile the noodles on plates and garnish generously with chopped spring onions, fried onions and a BIG dollop of sambal (ok none for the kids), with a squeeze of lime. I actually closed my eyes, sighing with happiness when the sweet-salty silkiness of the noodles topped with the crunch of the onions, melded with the bite of the chilli paste in my mouth. Happiness is, finding the perfect antedote to the cold grey and rainy weather wíth a taste from home. Even though it was cooked far, far away.