oleh oleh!chai tao kway!!!

to the westerners, carrot cake comes almost invariably in the form of a light/dark brown cake filled with shredded (orange) carrot, roasted walnuts and a thick sugary icing. that's why confusion arises when we speak about the asian carrot cake to them. this carrot cake that we south-east asians are more familiar with is otherwise known as lo bo gao/ white radish cake/ cai tao kway and it is one of the most popular hawker centre food around.

being ever so eager to re-enact memories of home, an "arduous" attempt was made to create the dish last tuesday. here is an account of how things went:

mixture of rice flour, oil, water and salt, stirred well to form a thickening glaze
minced garlic and shredded dried shrimps to add to the fragrance of the original steamed radish cake

shredded white radish which took a massive amount of arm power to create. hahaha... it did help to train up my iron arms...NO? lol

after getting all these ingredients ready, stir fry the garlic and dried shrimps, followed by the shredded radish. add in seasoning of salt, sugar and pepper ( for me i cheated by adding a bit of cooking wine and light soy sauce too) then add in water

when water boils, add in thickening glaze and stir quickly to form a paste

then put the paste into an oiled round tin and steam for 45 minutes or till set.

allow radish cake to cook and set. cut into cubes (large ones if you like)

TO SERVE STIR FRIED CARROT CAKE:
heat oil in wok. stir fry minced garlic and cubes of the previously steamed radish cake.

add dash of sesame oil, fish sauce, hoisin sauce/ sweet sauce, small amount of light soy sauce and sweet chilli (as you deem fit)

pour 2 eggs (beaten) over and allow eggs to set over mod to high heat. add dash of white pepper and some chopped spring onion for taste.

so there you have it! home-made chai tao kway!