Just when we thought the madness surrounding the Nasi Lemak Burger was starting to subside, here comes the Char Kuey Teow Burger. Conceptualised by Razif Hashim – founder of local internet food channel FungryTV – and cooked up by Grub by Ahong & Friends, the burger marries the essential elements of a traditional burger and a typical wok-fried char kuey teow. Unlike the Nasi Lemak Burger, which has a big chunk of fried chicken, this burger’s ‘patty’ is an egg wrap brimming with a ‘char kuey teow’ filling made with everything but the actual kuey teow noodles – think cockles, bean sprouts, prawns, garlic, chives, chilli and duck egg yolk. Plus, the addition of fishcake and halal bak kwa gives the whole thing an extra boost of flavour.
‘The idea here is to champion the underdog; with all the hype around the Nasi Lemak Burger, people have forgotten that Malalysia has another national dish that brings us all together,’ Razif says, adding that the burger was created with the feedback and ‘blessings’ of Ili Sulaiman from Agak Agak, RenYi Lim from myBurgerLab – who have both created their own versions of the Nasi Lemak Burger – as well as Sherson Lian from Hello by Kitchen Mafia.
Make no bones about it: this is an attempt to capture the craze surrounding the Nasi Lemak Burger first started by McDonald’s Singapore (the Nasi Kerabu Burger at Pan & Tamper is another example), but this Frankensteinian creation does taste good – imagine, if you can, a handheld version of a tasty, well-done char kuey teow boosted by generous chunks of duck egg yolk and plump prawns.
The only catch is that this burger won’t be available to the public until FungryTV receives 1,000 pledges on its Facebook page, and when it does, the burger will be sold at Grub by Ahong & Friends. So it’s up to you now to decide the fate of KL’s next trendy local burger.
View the video below to see how it's made.
