Charcoal Char Koay Teow

Okay honestly, I'm not a very linguistic person. Just because I am totally clueless on how to title my blogs, I have decided to title all of them with the food that I'm gonna write about. Heh, I'm making things so much more simpler and sift easy. *Oh yeah, oh yeah. Clears throat* Right. Let's get down to business. So I went back to my hometown Penang, Malaysia for the second half of summer. You can imagine my excitement. I'd literally waddle in my spot in the midst of waiting for the green light to disembark the aircraft. Okay. So, my best friend whom we had known for 3 years travelled to Penang from Kuala Lumpur which is 5 hours away to have a small gathering before I head back to the States.

This is her and me!

Penang is known as a Food Haven amongst Malaysians. It is the place where you can find good food in every turn of a corner on the street. It's is the best place to devour any kind of cuisine imaginable. From the East to the West, I'm pretty sure Penang has it all. One of the best kind of food that most people dare not miss while in Penang is the street food. Here on this page, I highly recommend you to try the best Char Koay Teow (Fried Koay Teow Noodles) in Penang! 

Tadaa! Does this "uncle" seem familiar to you? Okay, before I tell you more bout the food, I need to make a point that Malaysians refer to anyone elder/ older "uncle or aunty" regardless of any blood relation. Haha! Okay, so this Char Koay Teow is on Jalan Siam (Siam Road), Penang. For those who doesn't know where Siam Road is, here is the URL on google map. Siam Road Google Map. He starts his business from 5pm onwards. 

Char Koay Teow w. Chili 

So what makes this Char Koay Teow so special? First off, most vendors use regular gas to fry the Koay Teow. However, this uncle retains the traditional method of frying koay teow using charcoal! Amazingly, he uses one hand to fan the charcoal and another to fry the koay teow. This amazing uncle, holds a traditional bamboo fan in one hand and a cooking spade in another! :O When he uses charcoal, it adds to the additional smoky flavor to the koay teow. The heat from the charcoal fire enables the koay teow to be fried evenly throughout. Secondly, the uncle fries the koay teow one plate at a time. Imagine the attention given to make one perfect plate of Char Koay Teow! Simply amazing! But, here comes the catch. The more attention given, the longer it takes to perfect a plate of koay teow. So bring a kindle, ipod, ipad, smartphone, psp or whatever nots so that you'll not bore yourself to sleep!

What's good about the flavor of this Char Koay Teow is that the taste isn't too overwhelming. It has a smoky, salty finish to every bite. It has a subtle garlic flavor to it yet you can't really tell if you gobble down it fast. Even with Chili, it's not too spicy. It's just right for my boyfriend which is a relief. If you like seafood, there are a handful of cockles and shrimp that enhance the flavor. Look at the picture closely enough. There are a few slices of chinese sausages, juicy bean sprouts, spring onions and deep fried pork lard to further balance out the flavors. Can you imagine crunchy pork lard in your mouth? The most delicious thing in the world yet so bad for you! *Mouth waters. Gasps. Shakes head. Sighs* Anyways, the blend of flavors of all the ingredients put together plus the attention given creates a handsome amount yet delicious Char Koay Teow serving every time. Hungry yet? I know I am!