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Also known as chai tow kueh, this is a steamed cake of rice flour and shredded white radish - the ‘carrot’ it’s named after. Diced and stir-fried with garlic, salt-pickled radish, and eggs, it comes in two versions, one flavoured with sweet black soy sauce; the other left white and enhanced with extra egg and sometimes prawns. Both get a sprinkle of chopped spring onion and fresh coriander leaves as a final garnish. Chilli addicts typically request a dash of chilli paste to be added to the mix too.

Fried carrot cake is most commonly eaten for breakfast and supper. When done well, it has a scrumptious mix of smooth and crisp textures, salty-sweet and mellow flavours, and the smokiness that only a roaring fire can achieve. It’s absolutely addictive!

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Recipe

Ingredients :

300g Rice Flour
1.2 litre water
1 Radish (abt 9-inch long)
1 pkt Pickled Radish ("cai poh"), use abt half a pound.
6-8 cloves finely chopped garlics
Sweet Soy Sauce (for black)
OR
Fish Sauce (for white)
oil
lots of beaten eggs
chilli paste (optional)
spring onion for garnish
This recipe makes up to 5 plates.

Preparing the caipoh in advance

1. Soak caipoh in water for 30 min to reduce the saltiness.
2. Rinse it dry and chopped it finely.

3. Heat a wok with oil, abt 2 tbs or more, fry the caipoh and garlics on medium heat for abt 10 min. Add 1 tsp sugar to it and continue frying for another 5 min. Remove and set aside.

Preparing the cake

1. Shred the radish, place it in a pot together with water and rice flour and mix it thoroughly. Add 2 tsp salt to it.

2. Boil the mixture under medium small fire until the mixture becomes sticky, this takes abt 10 min.

3. Transfer to a heatproof tray (oiled), steam it on medium-high heat for 30 min. (I use a two 9-inch stainless steel tray and steam in 2 batches)

4. Remove from steamer and let cool for up to a few hours.

For best result, store both the caipoh and cake in the fridge overnight.

When Ready to eat :

Get ready all the ingredients.. Caipoh, egg, sauce...etc. Cut the cake into big pieces.

You need a very hot wok to fry the cake to prevent sticking. Heat 3 to 4 tbs oil, throw in the cake and pan-fry until just brown, add caipoh (for each serving plate I uses 1 tbs of caipoh). Fry for a few seconds and then using the frying ladle, chop the cake into smaller pieces. Then pour in the beaten egg.

You know the rest. For black carrot cake, add sweet soy sauce. For white, add a few dash of fish sauce, and finally the chilli paste.

Serve with spring onion on top of fried carrot cake.

Sometimes, when you run out on caipoh and egg etc... you can just eat the carrot cake pan-fried. Like this...