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Cantonese-style fried flat rice noodles are smothered in silky smooth egg gravy.
What is wat tan hor fun?
Wat tan is a Cantonese word for silky smooth eggs. Hor fun usually refers to the flat rice noodles or in Hokkian we call this as kway teow. Hor fun noodles are briefly cooked and then silky smooth egg gravy and a mixture of seafood and/or meat are smothered on top of the noodles. This is one of the popular Cantonese-style dishes. Pretty much anything can go with wat tan (silky smooth gravy).
How to get that “wok hei”
Honestly speaking, I can’t get that wok hei at home, not with my stove anyway. You need a stove that can produce quite a bit of heat like those at the restaurant or hawker place. The fire literally licks the wok. Not a chance with my stove LOL! So, since I can’t make that happen, at least I can try to cook the noodles in batches to get that “char” spots. It does give an extra depth of flavor to the noodles and overall dish. Not exactly a wok hei, but it’s good enough for a homecooked version 🙂
How to make a good wat tan hor at home
1. Heat a wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil
2. Then add 1/3 of the rice noodles and try to lay them in one layer. Remove from the wok/skillet. Let it cook undisturbed for about a minute or so to develop that “char” spots here and there
3. Then gently flip over, drizzle a bit of oil on the side and let it char for another minute or so. Remove from the wok/skillet. Add the next batch and drizzle oil on the side again and repeat the same process. We just want to char them, not burnt them 😉
4. Portion the noodles into a large serving platter (for family-style sharing) or individual serving plate
5. Preheat a large skillet or a wok. Add 1 Tbsp of cooking oil. Saute garlic and ginger for about 1 minute
6. Add the chicken broth and seasonings
7. Bring to a boil and then add bok choy and seafood mix. Bring back to a boil and then cover and lower down the heat to let it simmer for about 3 minutes
8. Mix cornstarch with water and then gradually add into the gravy and keep stirring until the gravy is thickened
9. Gradually add in the beaten egg and keep stirring for about 30 seconds and turn off the heat. You don’t want to overcook the eggs. Have a final taste and adjust seasoning as needed
10. Pour the gravy over the fried hor fun and serve immediately
Important tips
1. If the fun noodles you have has been refrigerated, please soften them by steaming them briefly or microwave until they are soft. If you try to stir fry them when they are hard, it will break into tiny pieces
2. Make sure the wok/skillet is hot when you do stir-frying like this
3. Get everything within your reach as stir-frying usually happens quickly
4. Once you pour the eggs in, don’t overcook or the gravy won’t be silky smooth
Have you tried Wat Tan Bee hoon?
It’s the same concept with wat tan hor, but instead of kway teow or hor fun noodles, wat tan bee hoon uses deep-fried rice noodle sticks, which gives a nice contrast of texture with the smooth silky gravy.
Other Flat Rice Noodles recipes you might like:
KWE TIAU RADNA (THAI STIR-FRIED FLAT RICE NOODLES WITH GRAVY)
INSTANT POT OXTAIL HO FUN NOODLE SOUP
PAD SEE EW (THAI STIR-FRIED RICE NOODLES)
Did you make this wat tan hor recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
This post was last published in 2018 and has been updated with new photos and improved techniques and recipe on March 17,2022.
Wat Tan Hor Fun (Cantonese Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Egg Gravy)
Ingredients
- 500 gr hor fun/kway teow fresh or refrigerated
For gravy:
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil plus more for cooking kway teow
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 800 ml chicken broth
- 100 gr bok choy or greens of your choice
- 2 large eggs beaten
Protein: (you can use whatever you like)
- 300 gr seafood mix
Seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
To thicken gravy:
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 3 Tbsp water
Serve with: (optional)
Instructions
Cooking the fun noodles:
- You can make your own hor fun/kway teow. I use store-bought this time and it's a refrigerated pack so the rice noodles are hard, which is normal. I usually steam them for 5 minutes or so until they are softened and let them cool down. Toss them in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and set aside. You don't want to stir fry them when they are hard as they will break into little pieces
- If you use dried hor fun/kway teow, you need about 250 grams dried. Bring a large pot of water to a boil then add the dried noodles and cook until they are soft and pliable but not mushy, usually about 5-6 minutes, depending on how thick the noodles are.
- Heat a wok or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and then add 1/3 of the rice noodles and try to lay them in one layer. Let it cook undisturbed for about a minute or so to develop that "char" spots here and there. Then gently flip over, drizzle a bit of oil on the side and let it char for another minute or so. Remove from the wok/skillet. Add the next batch and drizzle oil on the side again and repeat the same process. We just want to char them, not burnt them 😉
- Portion the noodles into a large serving platter (for family-style sharing) or individual serving plate
Making the egg gravy:
- Preheat a large skillet or a wok. Add 1 Tbsp of cooking oil. Saute garlic and ginger for about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil and then add bok choy and seafood mix. Bring back to a boil and then cover and lower down the heat to let it simmer for about 3 minutes
- Mix cornstarch with water and then gradually add into the gravy and keep stirring until the gravy is thicken
- Gradually add in the beaten egg and keep stirring for about 30 seconds and turn off the heat. You don't want to overcook the eggs. Have a final taste and adjust seasoning as needed
- Pour the gravy over the fried hor fun and serve immediately
9 comments
Spot on!
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Have made this three times now. So delicious! Instead of seafood mix i use fried fishcake and chicken thighs. Garnish with chillies, chives and drizzle with extra shallot oil on top and it just comes together!
Hello! Fishcake and chicken thights are great substitutions. I’m so glad you like it!! Thank you for your feedback!!
The recipe doesn’t include instructions for what to do with dried noodles, that you should boil them first before adding them to the pan and charring them. I’m a beginner so I made the mistake of steaming the noodles while they are completely dry and not cooking them all the way. So basically if you are working with dried noodles you should boil them first before charring in the pan 👍🏻 I also didn’t catch that Bee Hoon is a separate ingredient that I needed to get. Other than that I feel like for a first timer I did a decent job haha
Hi Kat, I’m glad you pulled through! When I wrote this recipe It was intended for using fresh or refrigerated rice noodles, not the dried version. I have included the instruction for dried version (sorry it was too late for you 🙂 )! And also I’m not sure whey the “bee hoon” was there! sorry for the confusion! You shouldn’t need any bee hoon for this recipe! LOL! Thank you for bringing that up to my attention! I hope if you ever try again, it will be a smoother process and less confusing!
Hi Marvella!! Wow so pleased you saw my entry and replied!! I did try again and though I’m not a master at it yet, it did go better! I only really have access to dry wide rice noodles so when I tried again I made sure to boil them! It turned out much better now. My next challenge for when I try again is going to be ensuring to char the noodles properly. Goals! Thanks so much for your reply this is such a fun challenge for me!!
Hi Katherine, I’m pretty sure it will turn out much better next round! You can do it *wink* 🙂
Tried it without shaoxing wine & added fish sauce instead of chicken stock, which I did not have on hand. 👍Tasty!