Beef kway teow or beef kwetiau is a

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...

n dish of flat rice noodles (

kway teow ''Shahe fen'' (沙河粉), or simply ''he fen'' (河粉), is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice. Its Minnan Chinese name, translated from the Mandarin 粿條 (''guotiao''), is adapted into alternate names which are widely encounte ...

) stir-fried and topped with slices of

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

or sometimes beef

offal Offal (), also called variety meats, pluck or organ meats, is the organs of a butchered animal. The word does not refer to a particular list of edible organs, which varies by culture and region, but usually excludes muscle. Offal may also refe ...

, served either dry or with soup. The dish is commonly found in Southeast Asian countries, especially Singapore and Indonesia, and can trace its origin to Chinese tradition. It is a popular dish in

Singaporean cuisine Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state. Influences include the cuisines of the Malays, the Chinese ...

and among

Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have ...

, where it locally known in Indonesian as ''kwetiau sapi''.

Variants

Technically, all ''kway teow'' (flat rice noodles) stir fried with beef can be categorized as beef kway teow. As the result, there are various recipes of beef kway teow exist.

Singapore

In Singapore, traditionally,

beef extract Meat extract is highly concentrated meat stock, usually made from beef or chicken. It is used to add meat flavour in cooking, and to make broth for soups and other liquid-based foods. Meat extract was invented by Baron Justus von Liebig, a Ger ...

was added to the

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a compan ...

, and the soup enhanced with gula melaka and lengkuas (

galangal Galangal () is a common name for several tropical rhizomatous spices. Differentiation The word ''galangal'', or its variant ''galanga'' or archaically ''galingale'', can refer in common usage to the aromatic rhizome of any of four plant spec ...

blue ginger ''Dichorisandra thyrsiflora'' or blue ginger is a species of tropical flowering plant which resembles ginger in growth and habit, but is actually related to the spiderworts (the genus ''Tradescantia''). The plant is native to the tropical woodla ...

). However, the dry version of beef kway teow is mixed with

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and ''Aspergillus oryzae'' or '' As ...

and chilli; thick gravy is not usually served in this version.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, ''kwetiau sapi'' is a popular Chinese Indonesian dish. ''Kwetiau'' with beef is known in three variants; ''kwetiau siram sapi'' (poured upon), ''kwetiau goreng sapi'' (stir fried), and ''kwetiau bun sapi'' (a rather moist version). The ''kwetiau siram sapi'' is a kwetiau noodle poured (Indonesian: ''siram'') with beef in thick flavorful sauce. The beef sauce has thick and rather gloppy glue-like consistency acquired from corn starch as thickening agent. The ''kwetiau goreng sapi'' is a variant of popular '' kwetiau goreng'' (stir fried kway teow) but distinctly served with beef. While the ''kwetiau bun sapi'' is similar to common fried kwetiau but rather moist and soft due to water addition. The common ingredients are flat rice noodles (kwetiau), thin slices of beef tenderloin, garlic, sliced ''

bakso Bakso or baso is an Indonesian meatball, or a meat paste made from beef surimi. Its texture is similar to the Chinese beef ball, fish ball, or pork ball. The word ''bakso'' may refer to a single meatball or the complete dish of meatball soup. '' ...

'' meatballs, '' caisim'',

napa cabbage Napa cabbage (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''pekinensis'' or ''Brassica rapa'' Pekinensis Group) is a type of Chinese cabbage originating near the Beijing region of China that is widely used in East Asian cuisine. Since the 20th century, it has als ...

oyster sauce Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts,The Times, 22 January 1981; ''Cook Accidentally on purpose'' sugar, salt and water thic ...

, beef stock, soy sauce, black pepper, sugar, corn starch, and cooking oil.

References

{{Singaporean cuisine, state=collapsed Indonesian Chinese cuisine Singaporean noodle dishes

Variants

Singapore

Indonesia

See also

References