Fried Carrot Cake

"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf where there is hatred."- Proverbs 15:17

photo: homemade CTK

Chai tao kway (CTK), which is also known as fried carrot cake (not to be mistaken with the western carrot cake), is a popular Chinese dish in Singapore. Used to be eaten for breakfast, it is now eaten at all hours of the day. There are two variants of the dish: the "white" version and the "black" version, with the difference being that in the "black" version, sweet soy sauce is added. Personally, I prefer the "black" version, whilst my wife likes the "white" version.

.
There are several stalls selling fried carrot cake at the Bt. Timah Hawker Centre, which is 5 mins drive from our house. We used to patronize a stall which had a reputation for good CTK. But alas, after the hawker center was renovated, the standard has not been the same so much so that we no longer patronize this stall.

During our stay in Happy Valley, my wife had a craving for CTK. Teamwork is required to prepare this dish - she is good at preparing the steamed cake and me, I am in-charge of frying it. The few friends who had tasted our version claimed that it was good.

.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients A: 200g rice flour, 550ml water, 200g radish (shredded), 1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix rice four in 200ml water. Stir in shredded radish, salt and remaining water, mix well into make a batter.

Pour the batter into baking tray or microvable container.

.

Microwave for 10 minutes (if steaming, 30 minutes) till the cake is cooked. Allow to cool before cutting into pieces.

Ingredients B cooking oil, chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 beaten eggs.

Heat frying pan till hot then pour in 4 tablespoons oil. Heat oil till hot. Add steamed carrot cake.

Quickly cut carrot cake into small pieces using frying ladle. Pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown. Push carrot cake aside and leave a hole in middle.
Pour in 3 tablespoon oil. Add chopped garlic and chilli sauce. Stir-fry thoroughly while adding fish sauce.

Slowly drizzle beaten eggs over carrot cake. Continue to pan-fry till both sides are golden-brown. Transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion, chopped coriander leaves and pepper. Serve hot.

The secret to a good CTK is to be generous with the ingredients, starting with the raddish (see photo below) when steaming the cake and ending with plenty of garlic, dried shrimp and dried turnip when frying the carrot cake.

photo: Asakusa, Japan (Jan 07).