Koay teow (flat thin rice noodle) th’ng (soup) is the favourite food for Penang people we can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The noodles are usually blanched first, then garnished with parboiled pork or chicken meat, sliced fish cakes, fish balls and a sprinkling of chopped scallions and some golden crisp-fried chopped garlic in oil.

Grandma’s koay teow soup method is a combination of pork bones, chicken, chicken feet’s, ikan bilis (dried anchovy) and duck. Her protein garnishing’s are chicken meat, chicken innards, fish balls. The soup looks plain but it packs a full delicious sweet savoury umami punch. The specialty of all koay teow th’ng is not in the soup, it not in the koay teow but is the fish balls. The fish balls are specially made by the owners themselves and of course contain secret recipe that make the fish balls delicious.

I am making it with chicken drumsticks soup base that my mother had taught me. This time I didn’t make the chopped garlic with oil. I have added pork balls, Thai fish cakes and chicken meat, and change the vegetables, I add tang oh instead of cabbage for garnishing. In addition, it’s a must have chili sauce. The soup is delicious, comforting with each mouthful bring me back to my memoirs of truly having authentic koay teow th’ng in Malaysia, Penang. Hopefully one day, I can go back and eat it every day. Let’s cook!!!

Ingredients

2 packets thin koay teow
2 packet fish cakes, cut into halved
2 packets pork balls

Drumsticks stock

12 drumsticks
4-6 c water, just enough to cover the drumsticks slightly above 1”
6 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 L chicken stock (bought)
2 Tsp chicken powder stock (OPT)
black peppercorns, pound a bit

Garnish

Chicken meat from drumsticks
fried dried shallots
chili sauce
tang oh

Method

In a pot, add drumsticks, water enough to cover drumsticks above 1inch and bring it to a simmer on low heat about 35 minutes. As it simmers, skim the foam (impurities) off the top with a fine-mesh skimmer or a spoon. When time up 35 minutes simmering drumsticks stock, strain stock through sieve into another pot. (I usually line it with a muslin cloth).

Add remaining stock ingredients into pot with drumsticks and lower the heat to simmer very gently for 1-2.5 hours. The longer the stock, the more flavour it will have, but the drumsticks will lose flavour. Remove the drumsticks from the pot once it has cooked.

Let drumsticks cool and remove meat from bones, and set aside. Add in 1 L chicken stock and powder stock into stock for more flavour. Bring it to boil for about 20-25 minutes and check seasoning. In another pot add enough of water, bring it to boil, then add the tang oh cook until wiltered about 15minutes. Drain and put tang oh in cold water to keep it green and set aside. Next soak koay teow in lukewarm water 10 minutes, drain; peel apart into individual strands. Put some koay teow into bowls set aside.

Add pork balls and fish cakes into the soup and cook for about 5 minutes, until balls are cooked and puffed up and fish cakes floats to the surface of the soup. Just before serving, add back chicken meat into soup, bring it to warmed up about 5-7 minutes.

Add tang oh into each bowl of ready koay teow and reheat in microwaves each bowl for about 1-2 minutes. Ladle 2 ladles or more soup with all the ingredients into warmed up koay teow and tang oh bowls. Serve immediately with a glass of white wine. Enjoy!!!!

Note: Keep chicken pieces extra in an airtight container in fridge for 2-4 days. To have more stock for next day or two add in 1-2 extra cup of water and 1-2 Tsp powder stock into stock. Bring it to boil and check seasoning. Switch off hob. If you have leftover stock and when the stock had cool completely, spoon into sterilized jars with tight lids, label name and date make before you refrigerate them.

When you want the chicken pieces, use a clean dry spoon to scoop the amount you want. You can add the chicken pieces with anything. At least you have ready cook meat. Save you time. You can freeze them if you want to keep them for more than 4 weeks to 6 weeks. You can add fish balls and bean shoots, cabbage and lettuce or buk choy. You can omit tang oh.

You can make the garlic oil: 40 g chopped garlic and 1/8 c oil. Put oil and chopped garlic in a deep bowl with a saucer and microwaves it 30 seconds for 3-4 times, stir in between until garlic is golden crispy. Don’t burn it and be careful, oil will splutter, I use a plate to cover the bowl.

https://helenscchin.com/2023/07/01/koay-teow-thng/

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