Char Koay Teow, the popular Penang hawker dish, has recently been declared as a traditional delicacy among other 172 items under the National Heritage listing. The declaration was made by Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal on 14th February 2009. During his speech at the declaration ceremony he said, “The declaration is to create awareness in society on the importance of preserving the national heritage to be appreciated by the next generation.”

    The Penang Char Koay Teow is a popular hawker delicacy made out of flat rice noodles and stir fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce. The delectable local dish is commonly served with prawns, cockles, eggs, bean sprouts and Chinese chives. This delicious combination, is fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, giving it a characteristic taste and perfected with the taste of burnt charcoal with chilli as an optional ingredient.

    A more fragrant and flavourful tasting version of the Penang Char Koay Teow can be found augmented with duck's eggs and crab meat served with a piece of banana leaf.

    With the Penang Char Koay Teow's growing popularity amongst the Muslim community, the dish has been converted by hotels and Muslim vendors to be fried without pork fat or lard to cater to all Muslims .

    During the earlier times when this dish was served, it was mainly served to labourers due to the high fat content and low cost of the dish which made it sufficient to this working class as it was a cheap source of energy and nutrients. It was originally sold by fishermen, farmers and cockle-gatherers who doubled as Char Koay Teow hawkers in the evenings to supplement their household income.

    Today, the famous Penang Char Koay Teow can be found all over the world but the best ones are left to the expert hawkers along the humble streets of Penang.

Let us know which is your favourite Char Koay Teow stall and tell us why it is a must-try for visitors to Penang by sending a short email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it