EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Thailand
Thai Char Kway Teow with vegetables
Thai Char Kway Teow - stir-fried rice noodles with vegetables served in a wonderful way. This meal is another dish that you should try. Why? Because it is one of the most popular dishes in Thailand. It is a really good opportunity to eat something local, something traditional and something full of vegetables. If you want, add to it some meat or tofu. But believe me, even without any extras, these noodle taste greatly.
What does Char Kway Teow mean?
Actually, the word char means stir-fried and Kway Teow refers to wide rice noodles. Usually, these noodles are at least one centimeter wide, but if you have an option to select these wider, do so!
Homemade flat rice noodles
These extra wide flat rice noodles are unique and are relatively quite hard to be found in other countries. Very often they are made at home and stored in a brine for a short period of time. They are fresh flat rice noodles, and that is why it is hard to store them for a long time.
Another option is to buy dried noodles, however, that is not the same. All that is made at home is always better.
Thai Char Kway Teow
Thai Char Kway Teow is a little bit different from these very traditional that are served in China. Especially because usually, they are not served with pork lard and not fried on an animal fat. The Thai version is a healthier option and if you choose Char Kway Teow with vegetables, you will definitively have quite a light meal. Of course, it is still stir-fried, and served with a sauce, so it is not that there is no fat in it at all. Well, you have to keep in mind that Thai cuisine, although relatively healthy, has a lot of dishes that are fried, deep-fried or served in a thick, oily sauce.
Thai Char Kway Teow with vegetables
This is the healthiest option. That is also a great alternative to a traditional meaty Char Kway Teow. Another good choice is to ask for a tofu curd or to go with seafood. But staying with the vegetarian dish, how would it be? You will get crunchy freshly prepared vegetables mixed with noodles. All will be mixed with a brownish sauce. These noodles wonderfully absorb all flavors, so it is a really good base for such a composition of aromas.
Apart from that, this meal allows you to have many textures and colors in it. Soft and delicate flat rice noodles, crunchy vegetables and a little bit of oil and Thai sauce.
The meal is also very colorful. White or brownish rice noodles, red carrots, yellowish baby corns, a lot of green vegetables like beans and cabbage, brown and white local mushrooms, and some white pieces of garlic. If you choose a spicy version, you will get also green and red pepper flakes with white seeds, that will be easily distinguishable in your dish. And not only by the color! Be careful if you do not like spicy dishes, as these here, in Thailand, can be really hot if you ask a spicy meal.
Regular Thai Char Kway Teow
That is just the basic option – fried flat rice noodles with pork or chicken. Comparing to other Asian countries, meat pieces, or better to say meat slices, are of a really good quality. You will not get bones, nor a lot of fatty pieces. There will be no skin or even worse – furry. Do not worry about it.
Meat slices or chunks are tender. They are nicely trimmed and deprived of almost all inedible parts. The only problem is that you will neither find there beef nor mutton or lamb. However still, pork and chicken should work for most of you.
So how is the general impression? For me, very positive. Thai Char Kway Teow is aromatic, has a lot of elements from the regional cuisine, is relatively healthy, gives your organism a lot of valuable minerals, salts, and vitamins at once.
Apart from that, it is gluten free. Usually it is also lactose free, but that is what you have to check from place to another, as local recipes differ significantly.
Thai Char Kway Teow is a great alternative for an extremely popular Pad-Thai no matter whether it is with meat or without!
