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 prawns, pork tenderloin, fish cakes, and buk choy. Yes, I added prawns as it’s on sale and needed the head to make soup more flavoured.
The koay teow 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
2-3 packets of koay teow
4 bunches buk choy, cut into bite size
3 packets fish cake, cut a bit thicker
1 strip of pork tenderloin, about 250 g, wash and pat dry
750 g prawns, peeled and deveined
12-14 prawn heads, for stock
1 Tbs oil
1 Tsp minced garlic
3-4 c water
Drumsticks stock
12 drumsticks
4-6 c water, just enough to cover the drumsticks slightly above 1”
5 garlic cloves
1 c chicken stock, bought
1 Tsp chicken powder stock (OPT)
1” ginger
salt
black peppercorns
Garnish
fried shallots
chili sauce
Method
Fry prawn heads with oil and minced garlic until turned red, add some water and smashed then set aside. In a pot, add drumsticks, 4 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. When it is done, strain stock through sieve into another pot (I usually line it with a muslin cloth).
Add remaining stock ingredients into pot with drumsticks. Simmer very gently for 1-2 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 it cool and remove meat from bones. Keep in an airtight container in fridge. Meantime, cut pork tenderloin into thin bite pieces.
Add in 1 cup of chicken stock and cooked prawn heads with 3 c of water first into stock. Bring it to boil for more stock flavour about 30 minutes, gives a couple of stirs and check seasoning. Cover with lid. 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 pieces into the soup and cook for about 20 minutes, until cooked. Removed pork and place about 3-4 pieces into koay teow bowls. Then add in buk choy, and fish cake slices into soup. Cook fish cakes slices for until they float to the surface of the soup. Remove and place some fish cakes about 3-4 in koay teow bowls. Now add in prawns until it’s cooked and check seasoning. Remove prawns and divide about 4 prawns on each koay teow bowls.
Warm up each koay teow bowls with the ingredients added in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Ladle some buk choy, and soup onto the warmed koay teow bowls. Garnish with fried shallots and chili sauce. Serve with a glass of 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.
You can just use pork ribs instead of pork tenderloin. Or just use prawn heads stock with bought chicken stock. You may add bee hoon and/or mee. You can add squids pieces, pork balls, fish balls, and/or yong tau foo for different varieties. You can add Chinese chives instead of dried shallots. You can add Chinese cabbage with bok choy.
For my other variety ingredients for koay teow:
https://helenscchin.com/2023/07/01/koay-teow-thng/
https://helenscchin.com/2023/10/14/koay-teow-chicken-and-pork-rib-soup-with-chili-sauce/
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