Fried carrot cake is one of our favourite comfort foods. It can be found throughout the island and is commonly available in most hawker centres and coffeeshops. Quality varies across stores but they’re generally quite decent.
It’s actually quite hard to get a terrible carrot cake, but it’s also equally difficult to come across truly exceptional ones. For the past few years, we’ve only been eating it from three different stalls.
The first is from our coffeeshop downstairs, not because it’s particularly tasty but simply because it’s convenient. The second is from Fu Ming Carrot Cake in Redhill Market, which fries up a really delicious version. It’s quite far from where we stay, so we only get to have it when we happen to be nearby.
And the third is Carrot Cubes, which used to be located in Cheng San Market but moved out several years back. You can still find a stall with the same name there, but it’s not run by the original owners. While they still use the steamed carrot cake supplied by Carrot Cubes, the final result isn’t quite the same.
We discovered them on Deliveroo during pandemic times, when food delivery apps reigned supreme. It was a lucky coincidence, since they would have never appeared on our radar otherwise.
They make their own steamed carrot cake in-house, something which is quite hard to find. Most stalls skip this crucial first step and conveniently buy it from a wholesaler. This extra effort ensures that their key raw material is of high quality — soft yet bouncy, with a discernable taste of radish.
Carrot Cubes was one of our top food delivery choices then, with our trigger-happy fingers ordering numerous times over several months.
One discovery was how well fried carrot cake actually goes with sweet dessert wine, especially with De Bortoli Noble One from Australia. If you’ve never tried that particular pairing, give it a shot and you might be pleasantly surprised.
When they gave up their hawker stall to focus on making steamed carrot cake for wholesale distribution, we were naturally quite disappointed. But all good things come to an end, and we stopped having carrot cake for quite a long time.
Fast forward a couple of years, and they finally decided to open up a stall selling fried carrot cake again. Unfortunately it was in Upper Serangoon, way out of reach for Grabpandaroo, and we remained disappointed.
But then in late February, something magical happened.
It was going to be even closer to us!
“Close enough to walk all the way there” immediately popped in my mind, after I keyed the address into Google Maps. But that idea floated off just as quickly, once I realised that it would be easier to take the train to Ang Mo Kio first.
That follow-up thought lingered for the briefest of moments, until it occurred to me that it was now close enough for Grabpandaroo to do its thing. And so I patiently waited; because yes, I’m extremely somewhat lazy.
I didn’t have to wait long before it popped up on GrabFood. The same four flavours were back, in the same familiar takeaway boxes. In addition to ordering each flavour (White, Black, Hottie, Bacon) individually, they also started offering two mixed versions (Special: Hottie & Bacon, Yuan Yang: Black & White).
Just like Pokémon, we gotta catch ’em all!
Well, not all all, since we could mix-and-match ourselves as long as we had the original four flavours. Since it was so close to us, the delivery arrived fast and furious.
Among the four choices, black is our favourite. There’s something about the dark soya sauce they use that makes the carrot cake extra fragrant. Each mouthful is filled with just the right balance of sweet and savoury, plus the refreshing pop from an occasional piece of spring onion.
The texture of the carrot cake was exactly as we remembered, firm but with just the right amount of give. Many stalls serve carrot cake that’s either too hard or too mushy, which in their defense, is largely a function of which supplier they get their base ingredient from.
Since Carrot Cubes uses their own handmade carrot cake, they have full control of what goes into their frying pan. But a good starting point is only half the battle, with the rest dependent on the skill of the cook. And on this metric, Carrot Cubes manages to do a great job.
The white version is the best gauge of how good they are, given that additional seasonings are kept to a minimum. The cook has to manage the fire monkey properly, in order to fry up a dish that’s soft, crispy and fragrant.
However, they do cheat a little. The amount of egg that goes into each portion is unusually generous, imparting a rich, eggy taste that other stalls can’t match.
Their premium options are equally good. Both the Hottie and Bacon are served “white”, but with Thai chilli and bacon bits mixed in respectively.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I can handle my spice. And while the Hottie isn’t the spiciest dish that I’ve had, it still packs quite a punch. After the Black, this is my second favourite flavour.
For the most expensive Bacon option, they didn’t skimp on the featured ingredient. Even though the bacon bits were small, they were plentiful and imparted the unmistakable taste of nitrate-preserved fatty pork. Yum.
Even though we really wanted to finish all four portions in one sitting, we quickly realised that it was too much for us to handle. So, we scooped out a decent chunk from each bowl and made our very own “Special Yuan Yang”.
They must have thought about offering this “Try Everything” sampler on their menu, but it’s probably quite a hassle to assemble in production.
We steamed it up for breakfast the next day, and it tasted just as good as the day before. Effectively doubling our enjoyment, after missing out on their carrot cake for so long.
I do still want to make a physical trip down to their stall at Blk 347 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 though, to savour it straight off the frying pan.
I’m just not sure if I can overcome my innate laziness to drag myself all the way there, especially since the alternative is just a few simple taps on my phone.
