Etymology
The Khmer word kuy teav, often elided to kh'teaw, refers to both the flat rice noodles as well as the dish. This word is ultimately derived from kóe-tiâu (粿條) of the Min Nan (Hokkien) dialects of Chinese, reflecting the long and complex history of Chinese migration to Southeast Asia, and is seen as cognate with hủ tiếu in Vietnam, kuai tiao (ก๋วยเตี๋ยว) in Thailand and kway teow in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In Cambodia and mainland Southeast Asia, the dish is primarily a noodle soup, whereas the Malaysian version is traditionally stir-fried (as in char kway teow). Linguistically, there is a close connection between the terms for stir frying in Malaysian (char) and Khmer (chhar), a legacy of the early Chinese settlers who brought the techniques of both noodle making with rice as well as stir frying with them to the region.
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