Saturday 5 July 2008

Fried White Radish Cake (Cai Teow Kueh)

I am trying to replicate this dish from memory based on my observations back home in Singapore at the hawker centres. I hope it will help you along.
Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.
A platter of sin without Chilli
Yet another platter of sin with Chilli






Ingredients:
1. Radish cake, sliced or bite size pieces. Amount depends on how hungry you are.
2. An egg - optional
3. Cai por, finely minced, optional
4. Light soya sauce, if required
5. Chilli sauce - optional
6. Spring onions, finely sliced, amount depending on taste
7. Pork lard, vegetable oil or oil of your choice
8. One clove or more garlic - roughly chopped
9. Black sweet sauce, amount depending on taste

Method:
1. Pork lard was used to fry up this dish with minced cai por. For healthier version, use vegetable oil. Fry the radish cake first and when heated through over high heat, fry cai por. When cai por 'pop' around, add garlic, fry till aromatic. Do not burn garlic.
Mix well and cut cakes into smaller pieces if desired.
2. If using an egg, crack and beat egg lightly. Spread over cake and mix well.
3. Amount of sauces if used, are accordingly to your taste.
4. The only sauce needed for my version was sweet sauce or Ketjap Manis (black sweet sauce) as the cai por I have in stock was very salty indeed thus light soya sauce was not necessary.
5. I appreciate eating this dish by using toothpicks especially the tiny weeny bits and the surprise findings of garlic and cai poh amidst the kueh.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello! your chai tow kueh is to die for! I am drooling big time now :(

Anonymous said...

Is there a software that can prevent me from entering your website at 1am in the morning so that I won't have massive oozing of gastric juice? :-(

Hungrybear said...

Jen, thanks for your kind comment. Very embarrassing to confess I finished the whole lot in two sittings :((

Hungrybear said...

TTC, kekekekekekeke. You are fortunate to be in a position to satisfy your craving in a few hours time.:))
Moi needs to cook again and 'tok' 'tok' 'tok' the big cai por into tiny weeny pieces. Have only a precious pack of cai por left.:((

Anonymous said...

It is always nice to see foodies experimenting at home...yummy!

Anyway, I thought the colour of your CTK looked different, then I realized you used kecap manis. How does that compare to using regular sweet sauce?

Hungrybear said...

Bugger, thanks for your kind comment.

The regular sweet sauce is not available here thus kecap manis is used instead.
Unlike the regular sweet sauce which is thick, the brand of kecap manis I used was watery.
I used about four tablespoons of kecap manis for a plate. The two dishes shown were cooked on different days.
The key in frying it is on high heat, enough for the kueh to be uniform in colour without drying out.
Splash bit of the sauce at a time and continuously fry till desired taste.
Ooooooooooo, the aroma played havoc with my senses and I couldn't wait to enjoy every morsel.

Based on my experiment, my yearning for CTK when I get back home is diminished so long as I am still able to find rice flour, cai por and radish.

Gonna make another batch, the only missing ingredient, for now, is radish.

I shall be experimenting using Cheong Chan Caramel sauce next.

Keeping fingers crossed. :))

Camemberu said...

Whuaaah this looks so delicious!!!

Hungrybear said...

Camemberu, thanks for your comment. Am itching to make another batch. :))

liverpool1965 said...

your CTK looks a lot better than most here in Singapore!

Hungrybear said...

LP, thanks for your kind comment. Still hunting for the elusive long radish again.
Cheers.:))