C.K.T

• servings: 5 servings
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1kg flat, white fresh rice noodles (about 1.5cm wide), separated

200g (about 15 medium) prawns, peeled, deveined and butterflied

180g fried fishcake, sliced 3mm thick

2 lap cheong (Chinese sausage), sliced on a sharp diagonal

1 bunch (about 100g) garlic chives, cut into 5cm lengths

200g bean sprouts

5 tbsp vegetable oil or lard, plus extra if needed

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tsp chilli paste, such as sambal oelek (optional)

ground white pepper, to season

5 eggs

banana leaf, to serve (optional)

sambal belacan, to serve

Directions

Combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce in a small bowl and stir well to dissolve the sugar.

Separate the ingredients for a single serving – 200g of rice noodles, 3 prawns, 5 slices of fishcake, a fifth of the lap cheong, 20g of garlic chives and 40g of beansprouts.

Heat a wok over high heat and add 1-2 tbsp of oil and the prawns, fishcake, lap cheong and chopped garlic for a single serving. Toss for about 30 seconds until the prawns are just starting to change colour. Add small amount of sambal oelek, if using. Add 200g of noodles and flip the wok so that the noodles are in direct contact with the metal of the wok (and the other ingredients are now sitting on top of the noodles). Allow the noodles to fry for about a minute, then toss the wok and add a little more than 1 tbsp of stir-fry sauce around the outside of the wok. Toss the noodles through the sauce to combine and fry for about 30 seconds until the sauce starts to caramelise. Move the noodles to one side of the wok, add a little extra oil to the open side of the wok and crack an egg into the open side. Scramble the egg for about 30 seconds until it is nearly set, then add the garlic chives and beansprouts for a single serve and toss everything together for about 30 seconds. Season with a little white pepper.

Cut a square of banana leaf and wave it over the flame to soften slightly. Serve the char kwai teow on the banana leaf with a little sambal belacan. Repeat for the remaining four serves.