After almost 6 years of living overseas and always craving for this one Singaporean dish, I finally got down to making it myself.
You know how thinking of a type of food never fails to transport you to homesickness-land? And you wish that the restaurants sell it so that you don't have to fly halfway across the world to satisfy your craving?
For me, it was always black carrot cake or "cai tao kway" as they call it in Singapore. I would dream of it, crave for it and each time I visit Singapore, it would be on my "must-eat -immediately" list.
And I don't even know why I took such a long time to muster the courage to try cooking it. I guess I kept hearing from others about how difficult it is to make the "cake" or how many times one has to try making it before succeeding.
In all humility, it was seriously not as tough as I had imagined it to be. Pandan cake is a whole lot harder to make. Compared to that, carrot cake is truly a piece of cake.
I have tried making it twice and I must say that the taste is pretty authentic while the consistency is about 80% there.
And guess what? I managed to find a short-cut method too. I used Sammy's babycook (food puree machine) to puree the radish with a bit of water. The end product was very fine and this resulted in a very smooth steamed carrot cake. :) This saved me sooo much time cos I didn't have to grate the radish from scratch!
So here's my photo documentary and recipe of my black carrot cake.
Carrot cake after steaming
Carrot cake cut into half and removed from the pot
That's half the portion cut into cubes and fried in oil
Add eggs and chai por
Almost done
The final product! Now I don't have to wait for my annual trip to Singapore to indulge in this dish. What joy!!!!
Ingredients:
- 1 radish, grated (about 500 grams)
- 250 grams water
- 200 grams rice flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
1. Puree the radish with a bit of water in a puree machine / babycook. Drain.
2. Mix the above ingredients and steam it over high heat for about 40 mins or until you get a smooth cake.
3. Allow the cake to cool before cutting it into small pieces to fry.
Ingredients:
- 5 cloves Garlic (chopped)
- 2 tbsp Chai Por (preserved radish. Soak in water for 5 mins and drain)
- 3 Eggs, beaten
- Fish sauce to taste
- Tai Hwa sweet black sauce
- Spring Onions (chopped)
3. Heat up some oil in a wok. Fry the carrot cake until crisp and a bit browned.
4. Add Chai por and chopped garlic. Add more oil if it gets too dry.
5. Add fish sauce to season.
6. Pour beaten egg over fried carrot cake. Allow egg to cook for a bit before flipping it over.
7. Add spring onions and fry. (I like my spring onions cooked)
8. Add sweet black sauce and coat. I add mine generously because I like my carrot cake sweet. You can omit this step if you prefer the white version.
21 comments:
omg I am salivating!! This dish is also on my to-eat list when I go back to Singapore!
Well done Pris!!
Thanks Bel! :) It's really pretty simple to make. And soooo yummy! :) Really makes living overseas soooo much better!
It looks amazing!!! Am going to try!!! :)
Well done! Your cooking has improved by leaps and bounds since you moved to Germany man. The carrot cake looks pretty amazing.
Ailing - Sure thing! :) I'm looking forward to hearing how the recipe worked for you!
Bern - Thanks sis! Hmm... I guess desperation is the mother of good cooking skills.
That's hilarious! Great though, that desperation developed into a passion and genuine love for cooking.
looks genuine delicious...
have 'yin/yang' carrot cake..with half white and the other black...This is my weekly disk on Saturday morning.....
Bern - Hmmm, thanks. It's not easy having to cook almost everyday, but I guess it helps when I know that the food is gonna taste good. Funny how when I go to Singapore and eat some of the hawker food, I realize that my home-cooked meals taste better / have more ingredients.
Anonymous - Thanks! I did think of making some white carrot cake, but I don't really like the taste of it. So decided to just make the black one. :)
oooooh yummy! I love carrot cake but haven't bought a steamer yet to make this, I recently made gyoza and Wontons as a DIY project :)
Elaine - You can use a wok and put a steamer plate in the wok. Works just fine too. Gyoza! That's one thing I haven't tried yet. But sounds like a lot of work!
U realize that "Anonymous" is Dad right? His spelling is atrocious. That's how I recognize his comments. Plus, he does always eat carrot cake on Saturdays at Sembawang Hills.
ooooo i was so inspired by your blogpost, i made some tonight too, with the rasa malaysia recipe! Hubby loved it! thanks for the inspiration! :)
Bern - I wasn't sure actually but was too lazy to find out. Thanks for telling me! :)
Letti - Cool beans!!! The recipe is pretty easy right? Great that your hubby liked it! I find that the cake could be softer, so I'm going to try out some other recipes too. :)
Woah, inspirational Pris! How did you manage to find "chai po" in Germany? I've been cooking mainly Western dishes. My Singaporean cravings have not set in yet ... but I'm going to make chicken rice this week!
Andrea - Thanks dear! I bought chai por from singapore and kept it in the fridge until now! :) Haven't tried the chai por that they sell in Stuttgart yet. Chicken rice??? That's going to be a lot of work!
Hi dear, I bought the chicken rice pre-mix from Singapore...hee hee...
Hey Pris! I was coming up with my meal plan for this week (I seem to be cooking everyday in London cos eating out is so expensive and unhealthy) and suddenly remembered your blog, so I popped by for some inspiration. Thought I'd drop a message to say hi! :)
Anyway, I tried the same recipe too cos I was craving for carrot cake. hee... I love rasa malaysia's blog because her recipes are so easy to follow.
Ok that's all! Enjoy your trip back home and I look forward to reading more about your food adventures!
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