I am a huge fan of Teochew food, a southern China regional cuisine. In Southeast Asia, there are a lot of Chinese of the Teochew descent and many of us are familiar with the homey and delicious Teochew dishes.
Today, I am very happy to have Ju at The Little Teochew as a guest writer.
Based in Singapore, Ju is a talented home cook and a mother of three. The Little Teochew is a resourceful food blog with many Teochew, Chinese, baking, and everyday recipes. Please welcome The Little Teochew to Rasa Malaysia as she shares her scrumptious fried radish cake (菜头粿) recipe.
Rasa Malaysia is literally an icon in the flogosphere, while I am just The Little Teochew. So, it is a huge honour for me to be guest blogging today.
When Rasa Malaysia suggested a Teochew dish, I knew what I wanted to make – Chai Tow Kway (Fried Radish Cake or 菜头粿).
If you live in (or have visited) Southeast Asia, you’d know that this is everyday street food, and a beloved breakfast/supper staple of many Singaporeans and Malaysians…
There are two versions of Chai Tow Kway – white and black. I am featuring both, although I personally live for the black version. ;)
I really enjoyed doing up this post because it brought back many happy childhood memories (hence the “old school” feel of my photos). I grew up eating the Chai Tow Kway at Siglap wet market…those were days when people would BYOE (Bring Your Own Eggs!) for the hawker to fry their Chai Tow Kway with, and ate this dish with toothpicks instead of chopsticks or forks.
If you are a child of the 1970s living in eastern Singapore, you will remember this. Ah, nostalgia!
Anyhow, this recipe uses a very high ratio of radish to flour. As my late father would say, “the real deal”, where you get to taste the chai tow (radish) and not the flour.
Feel free, though, to adjust the proportions of radish, flour and water. Unlike baking, there are no hard and fast rules to making this, and a little more (or less) here and there will not hurt.
Do remember that increasing the amount of radish and water will yield a more tender texture, while increasing flour will give you more ‘bite’.
I hope you’ll enjoy making and eating this dish as much as I did!
Fried Radish Cake (菜头粿) Recipe
Fried Radish Cake - radish, rice flour, egg, garlic, fish sauce, chili sauce, onion.
Ingredients
Part 1 - Making the Radish Cake
- 1 medium radish, about 700g when grated + 50ml water
- 200 g rice flour
- 250 ml water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Part 2 - Frying the Radish Cake
- Use half of the steamed radish cake above, enough for 1 or 2 persons
- 1 to 2 tbsp chai poh, preserved radish/turnip
- 2 to 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- About 2 tsp fish sauce or slightly more, if you like
- 3 tbsp oil, vegetable oil or lard oil
- Dash of white pepper
- Chilli sauce, (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Rose Brand Thick Sweet Sauce, omit this if you are frying the white version
- 3 stalks spring onion, chopped
- Coriander leaves for garnishing
Directions
Part 1 - Making the Radish Cake
- 1Over a very low flame, steam grated radish + 50ml water in a thick stainless steel pot (or non-stick pot). About 30 mins, or until radish turns translucent. Remove cover and allow to cool.
- 2Combine rice flour, salt and water. Mix well to combine.
- 3Add rice flour solution to cooled grated radish. Stir and mix before pouring into a metal cake tin for steaming. The final mixture should resemble a somewhat watery coleslaw.
- 4Steam on high for 40 mins. Leave it until completely cool (best overnight in the refrigerator), so that the radish cake firms up. It will be easier to handle too, as it will not stick to the knife when you're cutting.
Part 2 - Frying the Radish Cake
- 1Cut up steamed radish cake into small chunks. Smaller chunks will crisp better, and the result is a more delicious plate of Chai Tow Kway. You want a contrast in texture - a crisp exterior and a soft interior. And those really small, charred, crispy crumbs? Heaven.
- 2In a non-stick skillet, heat oil and fry radish cake chunks till lightly browned and slightly crisp. Heat should be medium high.
- 3Add minced garlic and chai poh. Fry till aromatic. Drizzle a little more oil if it is too dry.
- 4Add fish sauce, pepper (and lashings of chilli sauce, if you like it spicy). Fry to coat evenly with seasoning.
- 5Pour beaten eggs all over radish cake. Allow the eggs to set slightly before flipping over in sections. It's OK if it starts breaking up when you flip over; you don't need to have a perfect whole. At this stage, you can dish up and serve with spring onions if you are making the white version.
- 6Drizzle Rose Brand Thick Sweet Sauce and stir fry to mix well. Dish up and sprinkle liberally with spring onions. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Recipe Notes
Teochew cuisine is one of the few which makes use of fish sauce due to Chaoshan's coastal land.
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Alicia
Can I freeze the steamed carrot cake (not fried) as i won’t finish the lot?
Rasa Malaysia
Yes.
swee
Can I substitute Brown Rice flour or quinoa flour for the Raddish cake?
Rasa Malaysia
Sorry I am not sure.
Anthony
Just steamed this up, thanks! As it’ll probably be too much for me how well does it freeze?
Benjamin
Hello! I have a question: when you say “cook the radish on a very low flame for 30 minutes”, does it mean you have to count 30 minutes as soon as it starts simmering?
Or can I just cook it on medium heat (so I reach the boiling point faster) and then I low the heat down to low?
Which one of the both option is the best one?
Thank you ??
john overree
I too, ate at the Wet Market Siglap Chai tow Kuay, & I remember too that beside him was the Kuay Chap stall, Now this was when I was about10 yrs d about 1955, grounds was unpaved than & yes you brought your own eggs… Nostalgia ..
Gail
Oh my, this is a small world! I now I’ve in Australia, but I grew up with the chai tau away from the old Siglap market as well. My dad would do his shopping EVERY Sunday there and take me along. It’s been over 20years now and I still reminisce the good old days when I loved watching this old lady with asbestos hands pop hot metal cups of Chwee Kway onto serving plates straight out of the steamer. Thank you for the recipe and the memory.
Eric
Hi all. First time I have seen this page. In Perth W.A. we get our Char Tau Kueh at Spencer Village, Fook Kee stall (ex sg) He garnishes with bean sprouts as well as the others.
Felicia
Hi bee, can I know how to visit Ju her littleteochew blog? I used to browsing her blog freely but now it was kinda of blocked. I also tried to request but just cannot do so :(
Pls advise and thanks.
Rasa Malaysia
Sorry I don’t know.
liana
Hye there!!!
I just want to ask. Im afraid that chai pho didnt halal. So what can i subtitude with it?
Rasa Malaysia
No substitute.
Qasih
@ Liana…chye poh is preserved radish i don’t think its not halal😉. Thanks for sharing step by step @Rasa Malaysia…its so easy to follow & delish👌❤
Ivy
Hi, I am not able to buy white radish from where I am. Will it be possible to use parsnip instead?
WC
Am so glad my sis refer this recipe to me, simply love it. Though the texture of my carrot cake was not consistent. Some parts were soft and nice while some were harder. Any idea what’s the issue that causing it to be hard?