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Where can I find Singapore "Carrot Cake" (or Chai tow kway) in NYC?
Posted: 3:03 pm, June 2nd, 2009 in Eating in Other Areas of NYC
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13 Comments
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Try Nyonya, 194 Grand Street btwn Mulberry and Mott. It's a Malaysian restaurant. It's a toss up whether Malaysia or Singapore can claim ownership of the dish. You can find it at a dim sum restaurant too.
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I've never seen it at Dim Sum, only plain turnip cakes (and I've been to a ton of places in Manhattan, Flushing and Brooklyn!) Know of any specifically where you've seen it?
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Aaahhh... Zach now you're really making me think hard. Definitely go to Nyonya. The owners and the chefs are from Malaysia. If they don't have it, they'll know where you've gotta go. Or they can make it for you.
Chai tow kway is cooked in a similar style like char kway teow. Instead of a block of turnip cake it's chopped up. One of the signature dishes at Nyonya is char kway teow.
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A lot of malaysian places serve char kway teow though. It's really good. It's a noodles dish instead of turnip cake dish like the chai tow kway. You eaten the noodles before, Zach?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_kway_teow
You should be able to luck out at any Malaysian/Singaporean restaurant if they have the turnip cake handy.
Singapore Cafe in chinatown has a Home-Style Stir-Fried Radish Cake dish on their menu. You can call them to confirm if they make the chai tow kway.
69 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 964-0003 -
I've been very fond of carrot cake, black style, ever since my first trip to Singapore. Many of the country's well-known hawkers specialize in just one dish, carrot cake included, so it's little surprise that the restaurant versions I've found in New York, even in Elmhurst and Flushing, have never measured up. (Restaurant versions of char kway teow usually come closer, though with less-fresh shrimp.)
Perhaps this is another opportunity to make my own picture menu, to reinforce a special request for the kitchen. Will advise.
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Nyonya definitely does not have it. Any chai tao keuh and char keuy teow are actually two really different dishes.
The latter is a noodle dish with flat rice noodles and a sweet dark soya sauce. While the carrot cake is heavy on the garlic with egg and the turnip cake. If someone finds a place that serves the carrot cake, i would love to know!
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Ok, here's the description of Singapore Cafe's Home-Style Stir-Fried Radish Cake dish on their seamless menu: "Hot and Spicy. Cubes of homemade radish cake stir-fried with shrimp, bean sprout and heavily flavored soy sauce."
http://www.seamlessweb.com/AtHome/Singapore-Cafe-New-York-City.3706.r
That sounds like we almost had a winner. Too bad no egg. :P
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Well no eggs is one thing...but carrot cake isn't suppose to have shrimp OR bean sprouts.
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I'm Malaysia and I can safely say that the best Chai Tow Koay (aka Char Koay Kak) in NYC can be found in Singapore Cafe. Really authentic tasting, just like how it would taste like from the street vendors in Singapore and Malaysia.
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Well according to wiki, the chai tow kway occasionally has dried shrimp. Bean sprouts? Eh whatever. At least Chars says it's authentic! Haha.
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i haven't really found any good chai tow kueh outside of malaysia / singapore, not even in london.
the version Nyonya has on their menupages listing ("14. Sauteed Rice Cake * pan fried rice cake with dried radish, egg & bean sprouts") sounds inauthentic as there are no bean sprouts in CTK.
the closest i've had to CTK in terms of taste / texture / satisfaction (the easier-to-make dark sweet soy sauce version at least) is the daikon duck hash at Bun Soho ("21. Duck Confit daikon pancake, duck and egg, served with red vinegar soy") / Bar Bao ("Daikon Duck Hash slow poached egg, duck bacon, sweet soy"). it may not have the crunchy dried radish bits but the daikon cake is about right with the soy + egg. the duck confit is a bonus.
never tried the singapore cafe version but will give it a shot when i get over my suspicion of restos that need to advertise their geographical origins. and the shrimp / beansprouts?! i mean, CTK is so popular because it has absolutely nothing nutritious to recommend it.
last, to clarify, the daikon cake is the same base as the fried turnip cakes on dimsum menus, except (i) without the dried shrimp / pork pieces embedded, (ii) it isn't fried directly, but rather with egg, garlic and bits of dried radish, either in a light or dark soy sauce. the wikipedia picture is an accurate representation of both light / dark versions.
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Lot's of nostalgia for me with CTK; my grandpa and I used to share this for brunch, every sunday.
the truth of the matter is though, from a pure culinary standpoint, you are probably not missing much. it is pretty much an omelet with chunks of the radish cake similar to what you get at dim sum.
you could get the blocks of radish cake from a chinese grocer, and fry it up with some minced garlic, green onion, and nam pla, all atop 2 scrambled eggs on a hot griddle and be 90% of the way there.
that and an ex-sailor grandpa, who's wrestled sharks and whose favorite dish consists of whiskey and boiled crabs makes for a nice lazy sunday.
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ugh that wikipedia picture upsets me. it looks delicious but the camera isn't focused on the right part! the hell.
also more what the H:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kien-tuong-new-yorkthis viet restaurant apparently serves it as part of their secret menu.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/cafe-sage/menu
found this one too, on the vegetarian menu @ cafe sage.
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So I had never heard of this before Ruth Reichl mentioned it in her profile today... and Lunch'er "TC" posted this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_tow_kway
That looks amazing. I've had fried turnip/daikon cakes at dim sum, but never sauteed with eggs and soy sauce. I've gotta have this. Anybody know where to get a good version of this in NYC? (In Midtown would be great, but I won't hold my breath.)