Char Kway Teow traditionally has soy sauce in it, this recipe I have substituted it with oyster sauce, it has more body and less salt, also no soy. As a result it doesn’t have the expected dark brown colour.

Ingredients

300g chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp tapioca

60ml (1/4 cup) peanut oil

1 fresh red birdseye chilli, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp chilli paste

1 tsp shrimp paste

10 (about 250g) green tiger prawns, peeled, deveined

1 cup chopped cabbage (wombok)

1kg pkt fresh flat rice noodles

65g (1 cup) bean sprouts

4 green shallots, ends trimmed, cut into 3cm lengths

`1 tbsp fish sauce

½ cup water with 2 tbsp chicken stock

1 tbsp palm sugar (use some of the water to dissolve)

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 eggs

Cucumber slices to serve

Instructions

Prepare noodles per packet instructions, leave a little bit firm.
Combine chicken, oyster sauce and tapioca flour on a large plate. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add chilli, garlic and shrimp paste, and stir-fry for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for 5 minutes or until brown and just cooked through. Add the cabbage and prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until prawns curl and change colour.
Add the noodles and stir-fry for 5 minutes or until noodles are just tender.
Move the noodles to one side and break the eggs into the wok, stir and let cook to almost ready, mix the noodles back in.
Add stock, sugar, fish sauce and extra oyster sauce, stir-fry 1 minute. Add the bean sprouts, shallots, and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until heated through.

Serving

Serve immediately into bowls with cucumber slices.