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 can’t find the authentic cooking here even though we do have them in restaurants. I am making it with chicken drumsticks soup base that my mother had taught me, remembering grandma added ikan bilis. I have added pork balls, calamari rings, chicken meat, buk choy, bean shoots, cabbage, must have golden crisp-fried chopped garlic in oil for garnishing. In addition, it’s a must have chili sauce.
The soup is delicious, even though no fish balls, and 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 koay teow
1-2 packets frozen calamari rings
3 packets pork balls
10-12 cabbage leaves, cut to bite size
4 bunches of buk choy, stems remove and cut into bite size
Drumsticks stock
18 drumsticks
6 c water, just enough to cover the drumsticks slightly above 1”
6 garlic cloves
2 c extra water (OPT)
1 Tsp chicken powder stock (OPT)
2” fresh ginger
8-10 ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
1 Tsp oil
salt
black peppercorns
Garnish
Chicken meat from drumsticks
40 g chopped garlic
1/8 c vegetables oil
bean shoots
chili sauce
Method
In a pot, add drumsticks, 6 c water 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. Soak ikan bilis in water for about 5 minutes. Discard water and rinse a few times and dry in paper towel. Add oil and ikan bilis into a deep pot cook until ikan bilis turn brown. When time up 35 minutes simmering drumsticks stock, strain stock through sieve into the cooked ikan bilis 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. Remove stems of bean shoots and buk choy; wash buk choy 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. 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. Mine garlic is today, is dark burnt for a change.
Let drumsticks cool and remove meat from bones. Then add in 2 extra cup of water and powder stock into stock for more flavour, buk choy, and cabbage; cook for about 20 minutes until buk choy and cabbage are cooked. Check seasoning. Now add pork balls and frozen calamari rings into the soup and cook for about 2-4 minutes. Note: I put extra 1-2 minutes as calamari rings are frozen. I used ready-made pork balls, which are usually pre-cooked, so I just to reheat them till pork balls puff up in size. Remove and place them in the prepared koay teow bowls to serve along with a few pieces of chicken meat.
I reheat in microwaves each bowl for about 1-2 minutes to warmed up everything. Then ladle 2 ladles or more soup into the ready warmed up and filled bowls. Add bean shoots, stir to mix well. Spoon the golden crisp-fried dark burnt chopped garlic in oil over each bowls. For my bowl, I added chili sauce, it a must for me. 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 cakes, fish balls and more pork balls and lettuce or tang oh. You can add any meat, fish, and vegetables of your choice.
“Calamari rings in soup should be cooked either very quickly (2–5 minutes) to remain tender, or low and slow (30–45 minutes) to become tender again, as intermediate cooking times make them rubbery. For most soups, adding them for the last 5–10 minutes ensures a delicate texture.”
“Fast Method (Tender/Firm): Simmer for 2–5 minutes until the edges curl and they are opaque. Slow Method (Soft/Tender): Simmer for 30–45 minutes in a stew or soup for a very soft, succulent texture.
Avoid Overcooking: Anything between 5 and 20 minutes often results in chewy, rubbery rings.
When to Add: Add raw rings near the end of cooking to prevent them from becoming overcooked.
Frozen Rings: If using frozen rings, you can add them directly to the soup, but increase the simmer time by 1–2 minutes to allow them to heat through.”
For my other koay teow soup recipes:
https://helenscchin.com/2022/03/20/koay-teow-soup/
https://helenscchin.com/2021/04/16/koay-teow-soup-with-pork-balls-chicken-pieces-and-vegetables/
https://helenscchin.com/2023/07/01/koay-teow-thng/
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