Kuching-style Char Kueh Tiaw

Kueh Tiaw. Kway Teow. I'm not sure how to spell it in English, actually. But Fried Kueh Tiaw or Char Kueh Tiaw has many variations, and is well-loved by many. In Kuching, I do think it's not easy to find a good plate of Char Kueh Tiaw. So what constitues a good plate of Char Kueh Tiaw? To me, the noodles must be well-fried yet moist, with a smoky aroma imbued, and taste rich of garlic and lard. To achieve all these is no easy feat, and a single missing component would result in a less-than-perfect platter.

The ingredients accompanying the noodles vary, from place to place, from vendor to vendor. If a stall markets theirs as Penang Char Kueh Tiaw, I would expect cockles, prawns, Chinese sausage, egg, chives and beansprouts to say the least. Anything less and I'd call them fakes.

Kuching-style Char Kueh Tiaw is slightly different from the Penang-style Char Kueh Tiaw. The noodles come out drier, smokier - sometimes even a tad bitter, aromatic of course, and the ingredients need to include pork slices for flavour and texture, char siew to add a little sweetness to the dish, egg for the aroma, beansprouts and mustard greens for crunch. Some vendors would add fishcake slices to it. And one must eat it with pickled red chillies for the tang, and to neutralise the flavour of the lard and grease. Anything less and they're not authentic.

So these three plates here, eaten at different locations in Kuching, certainly did not meet my criteria and certainly isn't authentic Kuching-style Char Kueh Tiaw. And for sure, they could not satisfy my palate totally.

Not dry - this one is moist

Smoky, not bitter

Aroma of garlic

No pork slices

No char siew

Has egg

Beansprouts

Mustard greens

Cut chillies in soy sauce instead of pickled red chillies 

 Not dry, moist

Smoky, not bitter

No pork slices

No char siew

Has egg

Beansprouts

Crinkled mustard instead of mustard greens

Cut chillies in soy sauce instead of pickled red chillies 

Not too moist

 Bitter

Not aromatic at all

Has pork slices

No char siew

Has egg

Beansprouts

Crinkled mustard stems? Instead of mustard greens

Chilli sauce (OMG!! Atrocious!!) instead of pickled red chillies 

HOWEVER, a better plate would be this :

Moist

Aromatic

Has pork slices and chinese sausages

No char siew

Has egg

Beansprouts

Mustard greens

Cut chilli in soy sauce instead of pickle chilli 

This was from Lee Coffeeshop at Ban Hock Road. Highly recommended if you are at the vicinity.