Fried carrot cake, also known as Chai Tow Kway, is a Chinese dish made with fried radish cubes and sometimes a hint of carrot. It is a common dish in many Chinese cuisines and can be made with additional ingredients such as meat or shrimp. It is a flexible and nutritious dish that can be eaten at any time of the day.
Fried carrot cake is not made with carrots and is not a cake in the traditional sweet sense. It is a Chinese dish better known as Chai Tow Kway. It is one of many dishes known as dim sum in Cantonese and is featured in many Chinese cuisines in China, Malaysia and Singapore. Chai Tow Kway is fried radish cubes, but sometimes it can have a hint of carrot.
The fried carrot cake’s odd name comes from the fact that the Cantonese word for daikon or radish is the same as that for carrot. Daikon is a large white radish that forms the centerpiece of a number of Asian cuisines and is also used as a side dish. In Japanese cuisine, daikon is grated in meals such as tonkatsu and dashimaki. Cubed daikons are called cakes in Chinese.
It is possible that Daikon carrot cakes can be purchased in Chinese or East Asian stores. If not, they’re easy to make. Flour and grated daikon are mixed together. The proportions depend on whether the cook wants a texture with more flour or more flavor with a higher proportion of daikon. This mixture is mixed with water to form a batter mixture, which is boiled and then poured into a steaming tray.
Chai Tow kway takes around two hours to prepare if the carrot cake hasn’t been made in advance or with every purchase. It is mixed with other ingredients such as garlic, chai poh and spring onions and is then cooked with eggs. The finished product tends to be enriched with fish and chili sauces. Fried carrot cake can be made extra spicy by adding more chili sauce; other ingredients can be added depending on what the cook wants. This includes meat such as pork or shrimp.
The fried carrot cake varies from place to place, but the basic daikon cake plus flowers and egg remains the same. It is extremely common in Teowchew expat communities as found in Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia. In Malaysia, for example, the dish is combined with bean sprouts and dark soy sauce rather than chili sauce. Dried shrimp is a favorite ingredient in the Singaporean version.
Chai Tow Kway or fried carrot cake can be eaten at any time of the day. Residents of southern China, Malaysia and Singapore are known to eat it as a breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is a nutritious and flexible dish.
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