Cycle 5 – Item 238

31 (Sun) August 2014

Char Kway Teow

3.5

at Tao Yuan

-Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-

with CAL, et al.

Although I’d been disappointed by my first experience at this restaurant, I was very pleasantly surprised this time.  The best dish of the meal was the char kway teow, perfectly seasoned, perfectly charred, abundant fresh seafood, best noodle dish that I’ve had in the Philippines thus far, maybe even better than the one that I had in Singapore (see 4.267 Hainanese Chicken Rice)?  Overall, the meal was excellent.

Char Kway Teow is a Singaporean/Malaysian/Indonesian noodle dish.  Consists of wide flat rice noodles (“kway teow”), stir-fried over high heat to impart flame-licked charred flavor (coincidentally, “char”), with soy sauce and other condiments, plus sprouts, scallion, scrambled egg, typically seafood but sometimes chicken, beef, etc.  Essentially the same thing as Chinese hofun/hofan, which likely shares the same origin.  While popular in many countries, char kway teow is often referred to as a national dish in Singapore, a classic example of hawker cuisine.

(See also TEITY)

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)

(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)