Char Koay Kak

The sun was shining and I was still curling up in bed although it was already 9.50am. It was Sunday.

I headed to the Sungai Ara market as I was going to pick up some books from my friend at that area. On the way there, I had a what-am-I-going-to-take-for-breakfast thinking in my mind. It was only a 10 minutes journey, and I still hadn't thought of what to take.

So, I ended up wondering around the market and the aroma of Char Koay Kak caught my attention. Since I hadn't taken Char Koay Kak for nearly 4 months, I thought that it wasn't a bad idea to take it as my breakfast.


I waited impatiently for my char koay kak to be served.


Char Koay Kak is a famous Penang hawker food. It is rice cakes fried in dark soy with eggs and bean sprouts. Chilli paste is added to give it some spicyness and deliciousness. However, I was not in the mood for chilli, so I ate it plain.

Char Koay Kak is also known as Fried Raddish Cake or Loh Bak Kou (which means Carrot Cake in Cantonese).

The frying process of Char Koay Kak was kinda cool but it was and still is something that I would never never try. Looking at the big hot pan and the rising smoke, I knew that this was an impossible mission for me.