In the past, the only place that I could eat Fried Carrot Cake aka Chai Tau Kway was at home.
My Dad would fry it up (always the ‘black’ version) and we would promptly devour it because it’s the bomb.
But now with more and more different types of cuisine getting certified Halal, you can get Fried Carrot Cake at any one of a number of places these days.
Many many years ago, I stumbled upon a stall at Bedok Corner selling Fried Carrot Cake, Fried Oyster and Char Kway Teow. And best of all – it was Halal! And plenty of people seemed to be flocking towards it so I guess they had to be doing something right.
So we hadn’t visited Bedok Corner in quite awhile and one day, I grabbed the opportunity to get my Chai Tau Kway fix. And that’s where the mystery began… (Watch out for the twist later)
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| Fried Carrot Cake (Black) ($3.00) |
Definitely my preferred of the two versions is the ‘Black’ Fried Carrot Cake which is fried with thick sweet sauce to give it a nice sweet and soggy perfection. Comfort food and very tasty!!
Carrot cake pieces are mixed in with the sweet sauce and egg and it sounds so simple but it takes real skill to dish out a nice serving of Fried Carrot Cake (as like most other dishes). And for $3.00, you have to admit that Soon Lee definitely dishes out a very generous serving. That’s enough for 2 people!
Only one problem though – the Chai Poh (Salted Radish) was missing!!
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| Fried Carrot Cake (White) ($3.00) |
Very very very very seldom do I order the ‘White’ version. In fact, I think this might be only the 3rd time I’m doing so in my entire life!! I’m not saying it’s bad (maybe just a bit boring) but I guess it’s just individual preference.
The ‘White’ version as you can see is a lot less messy than it’s sweet sauce counterpart. I guess this means you will get a more ‘original’ taste when you tuck into the fried carrot cake which has a nice semi-crispy omelette to top it off. You will definitely get a strong peppery taste.
One of the things I notice about both versions at Soon Lee is that it is not too oily which is a plus.
But again – no Chai Poh!! I’m not sure about you guys but that minced up pickled radish is a must for me in Fried Carrot Cake… Kinda lacks a certain kick without it. Anyone feel the same?
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| Fried Oyster ($5.00) |
The best Fried Oyster we’ve reviewed (so far) was at the now-closed Mr Teh Tarik in Changi Village.
Could this version match up??
Definitely (again) and very generous portion for the price you pay and plenty of oysters for you to tuck into if you’re a fan. But I think most of you go for the egg and flour part right? Admit it!!
Well the texture of the egg/rice flour part was quite crispy in some parts but definitely lacking a nice gooey texture overall.
On top of that, the sambal was actually quite disappointing. You can see from the picture that it’s a bit watery and didn’t have quite as much kick as you’d expect from the sambal.
But like I said – you oyster lovers should be happy 🙂
Pity about the rest of the dish though… I always remembered it being much nicer than this leh…
Oh well I guess the search continues…
AND HERE COMES THE TWIST!!!
The whole time I was eating, I was thinking to myself “How come the staff at the stall was different?”. I’d ordered from that same stall location for many years and it was pretty much the same people all the time (aka a Chinese lady and the 2-3 cooks insides), This time, it was a Malay guy and one Chinese cook.
At first I thought maybe they were still on CNY break or something.
But then – we saw it…. Another stall behind us with the name ‘Green Sky’ and guess what – I saw the Chinese lady from the original stall there with the cooks!!
NO WONDER LAH!! It seems like the original people shifted to a different stall location. Soon Lee’s signage looks similar to the old one so I guess it would be easy to overlook since the location of the stall is what most people would remember (kinda like the Internation vs Mizzy Nasi Lemak at Changi Village).
Adam’s Verdict:
Fried Carrot Cake (Black) 3.5/5 — Fried Carrot Cake (White) 2.5/5 — Fried Oyster 2/5
Maryah’s Verdict:
Fried Carrot Cake (Black) 3/5 — Fried Carrot Cake (White) 3/5 — Fried Oyster 3.5/5
Well, whatever happened there I am not sure. But I’m pretty sure we’ll be visiting again soon to try out the ‘original’ stall at its new location and maybe even a Makan vs Makan??
Soon Lee (Bedok Corner)
Bedok Food Centre (Near Bedok Camp)
#01-02
Operating Hours:
10.30am til 9.30pm Daily
Closed on Mondays
You should try Fu Ming Carrot cake at Redhill food centre. It is halal and is easily one of the best carrot cakes in Singapore.
Hey Melvin! Thanks for the tip!
Never heard of Fu Ming before but it looks like we should check it out soon since you rate it so highly!
Thanks again for your support and keep on makan-ing!!
Yes, Green Sky is now the better one of the two! Didn’t notice the auntie, though. Just tried Green Sky out of curiousity, to compare.
Thanks for the comment bayya!!
Looks like we’ll have to go down and try Green Sky soon to do a comparison!!
This is not the original stall at bedok corner! green sky is! they shifted to the far back because they wanted a stall of their own instead of renting, then this soon lee opened up in its place deceiving others): i live near bedok corner to i frequent that place quite a bit(:
Hi fizzwhiz!
Yeah we noticed that before! But the new stall is not that bad in our opinion. Just hope that people who are looking for the original will notice!! 🙂
Thanks for your comment and have a great week!