Thursday, March 24, 2011

Mock Fried Carrot Cake ("Chai Tow Kuay")


That's not really fried carrot cake, or "Chai Tow Kuay" as it is called in Malaysia/Singapore. In the first place, there isn't even any radish (daikon) in this dish. And there are no cubes of steamed carrot cake in it either. It was a hasty decision to make something similar to satisfy my craving after coming across delectable-looking photos of this dish in my cousin's blog. I had no radish on hand, but at least I had the other ingredients available.

So I combined some rice flour and a little cornflour with water to make a watery batter, and seasoned it with pepper, sugar and soy sauce. I heated sufficient oil in a large frying pan, poured in the batter and let it sizzle for a while, and when almost set, I cracked 2 eggs over it and mixed it around. Then I cut it up with the spatula, continued frying both sides till crisp, moved it aside and fried some chopped garlic and preserved turnip. Then just combine everything and season with fish sauce, sugar, pepper and thick dark soy (I also added a little kecap manis). Sprinkle some chopped spring onions and my lazyman's carrot cake is ready!