Kwetiau ayam facts for kids
Kwetiau ayam with mushroom, chinese cabbage and a separate bowl of chicken broth soup with bakso and pangsit (wonton).
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| Alternative names | Kwetiau ayam, kuetiau ayam, chicken kway teow |
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| Course | Main course |
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Nationwide in Indonesia, also popular in Southeast Asia |
| Associated national cuisine | Indonesia |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Kwetiau, chicken meat, soy sauce, garlic, cooking oil (from chicken fat or vegetable oil), chicken broth, chinese cabbage, scallions |
Kwetiau ayam (say "kwe-tee-ow ah-yam") is a super popular dish from Indonesia. It's a type of noodle dish that comes from Chinese cooking. The name means 'chicken kway teow' in Indonesian.
This yummy meal uses flat rice noodles called kwetiau. These noodles are topped with small pieces of seasoned chicken meat. It's a lot like another famous Indonesian dish called mie ayam (chicken noodles), but it uses different noodles. You can find kwetiau ayam all over Indonesia. It's served in many places, from small street stalls called warung to bigger restaurants. If a place sells mie ayam, they usually sell kwetiau ayam too!
How Kwetiau Ayam is Made
Making kwetiau ayam is quite simple. First, the flat rice noodles are boiled. They are cooked until they are al dente, which means they are firm but still a bit chewy.
Next, the cooked noodles are put into a bowl. They are mixed with cooking oil, soy sauce, and garlic. The oil helps to keep the noodles from sticking together. This oil can be chicken fat, or even vegetable oil.
The chicken meat is cut into small cubes. It's cooked with soy sauce and other tasty spices, including more garlic. Sometimes, mushrooms are cooked with the chicken too.
What Comes with Kwetiau Ayam?
Once the noodles and chicken are ready, the seasoned chicken and mushroom mix is placed on top of the noodles. Then, chopped spring onions are sprinkled over everything.
Kwetiau ayam usually comes with a separate bowl of clear chicken broth. You also often get boiled chinese cabbage. Many people like to add wontons (which are called pangsit in Indonesia). These wontons can be crispy and fried, or soft and served in soup. You might also get bakso (meatballs) with your meal.
Because many people in Indonesia are Muslim, the kwetiau ayam often uses halal chicken fat or vegetable oil. This is instead of pork fat, which is sometimes used in Chinese cooking.
You can also add extra toppings and sauces! Some popular ones include:
- bawang goreng (crispy fried shallots)
- pangsit goreng (fried wontons)
- acar timun cabe rawit (pickled cucumber and small chili peppers)
- Spicy sambal chili sauce
- Tomato ketchup
Different Kinds of Kwetiau
The recipe for kwetiau ayam is very similar to mie ayam. The main difference is the type of noodles used. Mie ayam uses yellow wheat noodles.
Sometimes, you might hear kwetiau ayam called kwetiau ayam kuah. This means 'soupy kway teow'. But usually, the soup for kwetiau ayam is served in a separate bowl. If the noodles are cooked and served directly in a rich soup, that's a different dish called kwetiau kuah. It's more like mie kuah. Another similar dish is Kwetiau siram sapi, which has beef poured over the noodles.
