Char Kuey Teow
(Prawns and Sweet Sausage with Rice Noodles)

I’m sitting here waiting for school to just. be. over. (I am definitely not writing this in the middle of molecular biology review of last term. haha) Don’t get me wrong, I love learning about the human body, so so much. Learning about what fuels it, the way it functions as a 3D model in space, the way it self assembles and performs on a molecular level, the way we perceive our interactions with others, the way our society moves across time. It is all truly fascinating.

The only thing I love more than the human body is my unabashed elation with food and how it gets to us from the earth for fuel. As us humans happen to be unrelenting chemotrophs, we are able to do something most species cannot, which is indulge. Though I wanted to study medicine initially to understand how food actually works, there is still some sort of compartmentalization that takes place when I travel to eat. Everything just stops in that moment. I take in the colors, smells, textures, sounds and tastes without any thought to what this is doing as it breaks down into its constituent carbons, hydrogens, phosphates, sulfurs, and the like.

Sometimes the experience is just for the smile on some Auntie’s face as she proudly serves you this dish she made by hand out of the only ingredients she knows, which of course are things you’ve never heard of. And, it’s all done in the back of a dirt floor shed, and it wouldn’t taste better coming from anywhere else.

THIS is what I crave… This connection that is deep and intimate between us and what sustains us. It is a true love story. So, I long to explore a life of this connection… only every other minute. Until college is over, I will have to settle for small tastes of the world whenever possible. On the school break, I had the opportunity to visit a few Asian countries, but one of the dishes that melted me into a puddle was Char Kuey Teow in Kuala Lumpur, which I believe translates loosely to ‘kissed with fire’. I also had this in Singapore, but they both argue who created it first.

Whoever did, I’m the real winner here. This dish is perfect; salty, sweet, acidic, spicy, tender, toothsome, crisp, light, unctuous. It’s all there. I had to share this dish with you as I am obsessed with recreating it for y’all. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Ingredients:

  1. 8 oz Dry wide rice noodles (or whatever size rice noodle… but wide has a great meaty texture)
  2. 1 lb prawns, shelled and deveined (I use 16/20s)
  3. 2 eggs8 oz large bean sprouts
  4. 8 oz lap cheong Chinese sausage (recipe available on Rainshadoworganics.com)
  5. 5 Green onionsSauce
  6. 3 Garlic cloves, minced
  7. 1 Tbsp Sugar (I like palm)1 tsp Chili flake
  8. 2 Tbsp Avocado oil, probably more
  9. 1 Tbsp Oyster sauce
  10. 2 Tbsp Light soy sauce
  11. 1 Tbsp Dark soy sauce
  12. 1 Tbsp Fish sauce½ lime, juiced

 

Directions:

  1. Puree all ingredients in the sauce. Set aside
  2. Boil several cups water and turn off. Place the dry rice noodles and a tsp oil in the water and let soften to slightly before al dente… about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
  3. Scramble both eggs in a hot wok with oil
  4. Add prawns and lap cheong to hot wok, toss 3 minutes
  5. Add rice noodles and Sauce to hot wok, toss 2 minutes
  6. Add bean sprouts and chopped scallions to hot wok, toss 1 minute

Eat it right now while it’s piping hot and burning your mouth. It’s too good to wait for it to cool. It will change you and three of your friends’ lives. I swear to you. Enjoy.Cheers!-@theprimalfocus