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What is Char Kuay teow?

Char Kuay Teow, is a popular dish among Malaysian Chinese people. It is made from flat rice noodles. The noodles are fried in a wok and mixed with soy sauce, garlic, chilli, prawns, cockles, egg, bean sprouts. It usually fried in the pork lard, which give it its characteristic taste.

Basic ingredients for 1 people (Dennis K H Sim, 2009).

· ½ lb kuay teow noodles – flat rice noodles usually found in Asian grocery stores
· 6 large shelled and deveined shrimps
· 6 Malaysian shelled cockles (optional)
· 1 cup bean sprouts
· I/4 cup chopped chives, 1 inch length
· 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
· 1 egg
· Chili paste to taste
· Light soy sauce

· Dark soy sauce

· 3 Tbsp cooking oil

Negative effects of Char Kuay Teow

Char Kuay Teow was a tasty food, but inevitably greasy. It was usually fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, which give it its characteristic taste. It has a reputation of being unhealthy due to its fat content. The major fats of Char Kuay Teow are usually come from the pork fat. Pork fat contain about 40% saturated, 48% monounsaturated (including small amounts of antimicrobial palmitoleic acid) and 12% polyunsaturated (Enig.M, PhD, and Fallon.S). High saturated fats content, will cause harmful to our body, because saturated fats can increase our total blood cholesterol, and decrease our HDL cholesterol. Besides, cockle was also one of the ingredients added in Char Kuay Teow. Most of the food hawkers did not cook the cockle well while frying them with Kuay Teow. Raw or improperly cooked of the cockle, can contain harmful viruses and bacteria that can lead to outbreaks of gastroenteritis, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis, and salmonellosis (Palmigiano.K, Crawford.B, 2006). Moreover, most of the hawker will fry the noodle under a high flame in order to let the Char Kuay Teow has the Wok Hei taste or "taste of the flame" as we call it. This can only be achieved by furiously frying the noodle under a high flame until it almost burns. Char Kuay Teow that is slightly charred can cause harmful effect to our health. Charred food can create heterocyclic aromatic amines, known carcinogens, which can cause cancer (Breyer. M, 2008).

Improperly cooked of cockles on Char Kuay Teow.

Pork lard that can be found in Char Kuay Teow.

Char Kuay Teow in healthy way~

To counter the bad reputation for being unhealthy food, we can choose using vegetable oil instead of lard as the vegetable oil makes a much healthier dish with much of the flavor. Besides, avoid using a wok, but a non-stick flat pan so as to not use too much oil during the frying process. Moreover, it is not good for deep frying at high heat, so fried the noodle at appropriate temperature to avoid the noodle being charred.Furthermore, we can also add more vegetables into the Char Kuay Teow in an effort to disguise the artery clogging properties such as topped with julienne vegetables. Other than that, mushroom can also be added into the Char Kuay Teow seen mushroom rich in vitamin B and minerals. They're low in calories and may have antibacterial substances to help the body (James T. Ehler, 2009). Nevertheless, Char Kuay Teow can also sauteed with organic shoyu instead of commercial soy sauces. Commercial soy sauce is actually caramel colored water with lots of salt, hydrochloric acid treated soy isolate, and sugar added (Annie B. 2007).In contrast, shoyu is good source of vitamins and mineral and it also contain dietary fiber that can reduce the absorption of cholesterol and also regulates the blood glucose and cholesterol level.

Kuay teow sauteed with organic shoyu and topped with julienne vegetables

Metabolism involved by Char Kuay Teow

Char kuay teow provide us energy as it contains carbohydrates, protein, fats and other nutrients. The main ingredient of char kuay teow is flat noodle which is high in carbohydrates. Thus, flat noodles are main source of energy in this dish. As we know, carbohydrate serves as fuel and is oxidized to provide energy for metabolic processes. Carbohydrates of char kuay teow that enter human digestive system were digested to monosaccharide by different amylases and were fully absorbed by small intestine. All the monosaccharides were transported to liver and converted to glucose (Adams, 2000). Glucose is oxidized by all tissues to produce energy.

The first stage of carbohydrate metabolism is glycolysis which is also called Embden-Meyerhof pathway. Glycolysis is the oxidation of glucose which contains 6 carbons to 2 pyruvates which contain 3 carbons. This pathway occurs in cytosol can proceed in both aerobic and anaerobic condition. In aerobic glycolysis, 8 ATPs are produced in the presence of 10 enzymes. However, only 2 ATPs are produced by 1 glucose molecule in anaerobic glycolysis. Pyrivates that are produced in glycolysis are transported into mitochondrial and are oxidatively decarboxylated to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl coA) under aerobic condition. Acetyl coA is then enter citric acid cycle and energy is synthesized in the reactions of citric acid cycle. Total of 24 ATPs are generated in this cycle.

Metabolism of Carbohydrates
Source: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/08366/h&p2carb.htm#intr_top

Protein in char kuay teow is digested into amino acids and absorbed into blood stream. The amino acids are then used by body in protein synthesis, synthesis of a variety of other compounds and biological fuel. As the protein contains nitrogen, the first step of protein catabolism is the removal of nitrogen (Adams, 2000). The nitrogen is removed by transferring the amino group to alpha-ketoglutarate and produce glutamate. After that, the glutamate is oxidative deaminated and ammonia is formed. The ammonia is then converted to urea and excreted through kidney in urine. The remaining carbon skeletons of amino acids are converted to acetyl coA, pyruvate or citric acid cycle intermediate. The citric acid cycle intermediate and acetyl coA may enter citric acid cycle to be used in the production of energy. Those acetyl coA also may convert to ketone bodies.

Metabolism of Protein
Source: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/08366/h&p2ptn.htm

Most of the fats present in char kuay teow are animal fats that contain saturated fats and cholesterol. Triglycerides in fat are digested into monoglycerides and fatty acids that were absorbed into body together with cholesterol and bile salt in the form of micelles. However, these 2 fat components will re-synthesize into triglycerides after enter blood stream. Thus, the first step of fat metabolism is hydrolysis of fat in the cytoplasm to produce glycerol and fatty acids (Ophardt, 2003). The glycerol is then converted to dihydroxyacetone phosphate, an intermediate in glycolysis. This compound involve in energy production by entering glycolysis and then citric acid cycle. The major metabolism of fatty acids is beta-oxidation which occurs in mitochondria. This is a cyclic series of reactions with the end result of two carbon units being hydrolysed from the fatty acid chain with each cycle and produce acetyl coA (Adams, 2000). Acetyl coA is oxidized in citric acid cycle and synthesize ATP.

Beta oxidation of Fatty acid
Source: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/08366/h&p2fat.htm

Metabolism Summary of proteins, carbohydrates and fat.

Source: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/08366/h&p2fat.htm

Physiological effects of Char Kuay Teow~

Besides providing energy, carbohydrates, protein and fat in char kuay teow also bring physiological benefits to our body. Carbohydrate is used for energy production thus the availability of carbohydrate energy prevents the body from breaking down muscle tissue for fuel. Proteins are building block of our body. The protein in food can be used by body to build and repair tissues. Besides that, enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals are also made by protein. Protein in this dish can be used as building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood (Osterweil, 2009). On the other hand, fat supplies essential fatty acids for growth, healthy skin, vitamin-absorption and regulation of bodily functions (Scott, 2008).

References

1. Breyer. M, 2008. Top 10 Foods That Increase Cancer Risk. [Online].

Available from:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/top-10-foods-that-increase-cancer-risk.html

[Accessed 10 February 2009]

2. Enig.M, PhD, and Fallon.S, 2008. Composition of different fats. [Online]

Available from:

http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats_health_benefits.htm [Accessed 10 February 2009].

3. James T. Ehler and FoodReference.com. Mushrooms. [Online].

Available from

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artmushrooms2.html [Accessed 10 February 2009].

4. Annie B., 2007. Tamari and Shoyu: The Quality of Traditional Soy Sauce. [Online].