Singapore Fried Carrot Cake / Fried Turnip Cake (with Homemade Chai Tow Kway)
Servings: 4 servings
Singapore fried carrot cake is a savory dish made of steamed radish/turnip cake cut into cubes and stir-fried with eggs and seasonings. A popular hawker fare that you can make at home.
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Equipment
Ingredients
If using homemade Chai Tow Kway (7x7x2 inch) yield about 600-700 grams cooked:
- 250 gr daikon weight is after peeling off the skin.
- 480 gr water to cook the daikon
- 150 gr rice flour
- 15 gr cornstarch
- 15 gr tapioca starch
- ¾ tsp salt
- 220 gr water
If using ready-made daikon/turnip cake:
- 600 gr Daikon cake about 1 1/2 lbs, cut into cubes
For stir-frying:
- 3 Tbsp lard or use cooking oil for healthier version
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled and finely minced)
- ½ cup sweet chai poh soaked in warm water and then cut into smaller pieces
- 4 eggs lightly beaten
- 4 handful fresh bean sprouts
Seasonings:
- 1 tsp fish sauce or more to taste
- 1 tsp soy sauce or more to taste
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce omit for white version
Instructions
Make the chai tow kway (prepare the day before):
- Line the base of the pan you are going to steam the cake in with a parchment paper. It's easier to take it out later.
Precook the daikon:
- Traditionally made with the Chinese daikon/radish (white long tuber), but if you live outside of Asia and if it's hard to find, I have also tried the small red radishes, which is more abundant here in the U.S. Just peel off the red skin and they have very similar taste to the Chinese daikon/radish (not to mention they are cheaper too)
- Use a fine grater to grate the daikon into shreds
- Put your pot on a kitchen scale, add 480 grams of water, 250 grams of shredded daikon and take note of the total weight including the pot. Write it down somewhere or take a photo of the weight with your phone.
- Put this on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil and then cover and lower the heat to simmer for 5 minutes. The daikon should be soft. Turn off the heat
- Put a trivet on the kitchen scale again (you don't want to burn the scale). Zero it out so it won't take the weight of the trivet. Put your pot on the scale to weigh again. The total weight should be about 100 grams less than before after cooking.
- For example if you started with 1730 grams total weight (your pot + 480 g water + 250 g shredded daikon), after boiling, the total weight should be around 1630 grams. If it's not less than 100 grams, discard some of the liquid to make up for it. If it went down way more than 100 grams, you can add some water to make up for it.
Cook the batter:
- Combine rice flour, cornstarch, and tapioca starch with 220 gr of water in a large wok or skillet. Stir or whisk until you get a smooth batter. Don't turn on the heat yet.
- Bring water in the steamer to a boil while waiting. Add the cooked daikon and the cooking liquid into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Turn on the heat on low-medium and keep stirring until the batter starts to get creamy and thick but not too thick that you can't stir anymore. Remove from the heat
- Transfer the thickened batter this into a round or square pan lined with a parchment paper at the bottom (it's easier to unmould later) and use a spatula to smooth the surface. Steam over high heat for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
- NEW UPDATE: A skewer inserted into the center of the cake may not come out clean. So it's not a very accurate test. Open the lid of the steamer and let the cake sit in there for 5 minutes. The surface will dry up a bit. Lightly press the cake and it should bounce back lightly and doesn't feel mushy or wet. The cake will firm up considerably once it cools down
- Let it cool down completely for 1 hour at room temperature and then let it cool down further in the fridge for at least 6 hours or longer. The texture needs to be firm enough before you can cut and use it for stir-frying.
Fried carrot cake:
- Mix the seasoning ingredients and set aside. Cut the carrot cake into about 1-inch cubes. Preheat a large wok/skillet on high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of lard/cooking oil. Add the carrot cake in one single layer and fry until crispy and a thin crispy crust forms
- Then flip to the other side until lightly golden and slightly crusty.
- Add another 1 Tbsp of lard/oil and add the garlic and chai poh and stir-fry briefly for until fragrant, about 1 minute
- Pour the beaten eggs over the carrot cakes and leave it for a while. Do not stir for about 10 seconds.
- When you see the eggs start to solidify at the bottom, flip it over and cook the other sides and drizzle with last tablespoon of lard/oil. Add seasonings and stir to mix everything.
- Add the sprouts and stir fry for another 10-15 seconds or until the sprouts are heated through but still crunchy and not wilted
- Turn off the heat. Dish the fried carrot cake up into serving platters and serve immediately
Video
Notes
The recipe is adapted from Kitchen Tigress' with some modifications on the flour mixture. I like her recipe the best as it yields chai tow kway that is soft but not easily broken when you stir fry them.
