Carrot Cake | Ziggy

The carrot here is actually a radish, in Mandarin they're termed white and red carrots. Carrot cakes are also commonly known as chai taow kway in Singapore, a Fujian name meaning vege head cake, for obvious reasons. It is nothing like the pastry cake, and it can a meal instead of a dessert.

Made from steaming rice flour with diced radish and water, chopped into cubes, then fried with egg, chilli paste and beansprout. They are also served black or white in Singapore, with dark sweet sauce added during frying for the black version . Ordering one will have to specify if you want it black or white, and if you want chilli. Some hawkers offer a mixed black and white version, I have not heard of a mixed chilli and no chilli version though.... it can just be done, depending on the cook's mood.

I have been told by one hawker that to know if a stall's cake is good, we must go for the white version, the dark ones would only be tasting the sweet sauce. I have since turned from black only to mixed or white only! My taste buds joy is my sweet tooth's misery...

Chey Sua

Ghim Moh

Hock Kee

Yong Xiang

Geylang Homemade

333

Zhong Mei

Kim Lee

(Carrot Cake) Fried Carrok Cake (Semb) 1.jpg

Fried Carrot Cake

Good Spice

Carrot Cake, local dian xin

Jun 2021

Mainly selling carrot cake, this stall has a mini stall selling local breakfast items like chee cheong fun (ccf), shoon kueh, yam cake, and orh nee, a Teochew yam dessert, which I can see has decent sales.

You get a decent Q here, and most people come here for a carrot cake, fried by a lady. The frying from her is quite intense, with smell of fragrant spices filling the air, and if you sit around, you would hear a sneeze or two from someone in the area, I got it before too.

（Carrot Cake）Yong Xiang Yong Xiang CTK 3.GIF

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The carrot cake was very nice, plenty of egg, I love eggs and I have to say this was the first time I think there may be too much egg in the carrot cake. The carrot cake had a good texture, soft but solid, and was very tasty with whatever goes into it. As she did her frying behind a window, it was not easy to observe if any magic sauce was splashed onto the carrot cake, I’m sure there was with the fragrant taste, and smell all around. Funnily, the eggs in the carrot cake was not as tasty, else I wouldn’t have complained, but the carrot cake itself was brilliant.

（Carrot Cake）Yong Xiang Yong Xiang CTK 11.jpg

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I gave the ccf here a try, to my surprise, it is quite good! The ccf itself was pretty ordinary, but the sauces that came with it were brilliant. Very tasty sweet sauce, just the right level of sweetness, and a good umami taste within; the chilli sauce was the kicker, looked a bit diluted but it was delicious; slightly spicy and blended very well with the sweet sauce to give the ccf a very good combination of tastes in your pallets.

The shoon kueh (sliced bamboo shoots wrapped in a rice flour skin) is a bit dry on the inside, not the best I’ve had but it was suitably decent and felt very homemade.

（Carrot Cake）Yong Xiang Yong Xiang CTK 13.jpg

Catch them while you can, working only 4 days a week, the old couple knows how to relax. They scowled at me when I joked that they are very cool business people, know how to relax… asking me if I wanted them to work themselves into the ground. My bad, everyone deserves a break, especially all these very hard working hawkers. Ziggy Salutes!

（Carrot Cake）Yong Xiang Yong Xiang CTK 10.GIF

Yong Xiang Carrot Cake

29 Bendemeer Road, #01-35 Bendemeer Food Centre, s330029

1030am – 730pm, closed on Mon, Wed and Fri (No kidding)

cheSua

Carrot Cake

Jul 2020

Crispy layers of carrot cake with a nice cuddly texture within!

My friend’s cousins run this stall, so I might be a bit biased…. Haha.

When we arrived early just after 11, I was very happy to see no queues at all, unlike what my friend claimed that “the q starts when they open”…. Only to realise that people q sitting around! Despite the close relationship (my friend was happily chatting with the cousins throughout the wait as they go about their business), we still waited 30 mins, my friend declining his queue cutting privileges, mainly because he wanted to chat with them. My poor growling stomach….

They had moved here from Serangoon Gardens a long time back, and business have been thriving, so I doubt it really matters what I say here, they are popular.

When the carrot cake finally arrived, we can see why the Q just from the looks. It looked well fried, with a beautiful char! Fried CRISPY on the outside, it is nice and soft inside. The cake is cooked with a secret family formula, passed down from their father. It is tasty and great. Made with real carrots and turnips, and served only white, which another carrot cake hawker told me is the way carrot cake is to be appreciated, not covered in the taste of a dark sauce (thank you bro for spoiling my love for black carrot cake…! Grrrr… but he is right).

The carrot cake is soft and tasty but crispy, very crispy, on the outside. Come early to beat the Q….

After trying this carrot cake, i can sincerely say I wasn't biased in my opinions above. Ah Bud Den (But of course...), otherwise there won't be a Q waiting for them to open every morning....

Chey Sua Carrot Cake

127 Toa Payoh Lorong 1, #02-30 Toa Payoh West Market and Food Centre, s310127

630am – 1pm, closed on Mon

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Food-Stand/Chey-Sua-Carrot-Cake-581344545264358/

HockKee

Fried Oyster/Carrot Cake

Jul 2021

Excellent carrot cake, and wonderful oyster omelette. Brilliant 2 in 1 stall.

They must have changed their name from what I notice in their facebook page, my photos are current! Just as well, this is the guy that taught me how to enjoy good fried carrot cake!

The boss at home is a fan of a stall nearby, with long Q, she would usually Q to get what she wants and I’d wait at a table, usually near Hock Kee. Mr Hock (not his real name…) recognised me and one day we chatted when I ordered some carrot cake. It had always been dark carrot cake for me, but Mr Hock told me what I was tasting would just be the sweet sauce, not the carrot cake. To enjoy a good one, I must eat it white, and that’s when you can tell the quality of the cake. Side glancing him, I asked if he had good carrot cake, “of course!”...

Let's see....

It was a life changing experience! His carrot cake is specially made to his specifics. It is tender, soft but yet has a good solid bite. Not soft and moist at some places, or too hard and not tender at others. He fries his carrot cake well too… what comes out is a delicious and tenderly solid plate of carrot cake, at a good price too!

Not sure why his facebook page has photos of awards for the fried oysters, he should be recognised for his carrot cakes! But then again, I should try his fried oyster….

And I did, the fried oyster here is quite delicious too. The omelette was fried crispy at the bottom, and soft with juicy half cooked oysters on top. The crispy bottom was fried almost to the point of being charred, something I love, but it was only the bottom layer that was burnt. The end product is a great combination of crispy egg, soft scrambled like egg, and the big juicy oysters; texture wise it was fantastic. Taste was brilliant as well. It is no surprise they have some accolades, not many stalls do both carrot cake and oyster omelette well, Hock Kee could well lead the race for this!

Hock Kee Fried Oyster-Carrot Cake

49A Serangoon Garden Way, #01-19 Serangoon Garden Market & Food Centre, s555945

715 am – 2pm; 615 – 10pm Closed on Mon

https://www.facebook.com/Hock-Kee-Fried-Oyster-1491812687782767/

GylagHmemae

Carrot cake

Mar 2023

Fabulous carrot cake, made in house by a friendly and cheerful hawker.

A chance meeting with a friend led me here, he drove past me nearby and texted if I want to join him here, so I did. When I arrived, he was Q’ing for the famous Eunos bak chor mee, kindly texting me for my order, I saw this carrot cake stall and replied his kindness by ordering a plate to share.

I didn’t expect much, and could not order a mix of black and white carrot cake so I went for the white since it’s “homemade”, let’s try his skill…. When I brought the funnily fried carrot cake to the table, and waited for my friend who was in the Q. His brother, and another friend, were staring at me in disbelief. Apparently, this is so popular, sometimes people would place their order, go to the market to buy groceries, and returned to wait for the order to be filled! I was in luck, just 3 ahead of me then!

I couldn’t resist, didn’t wait for Chin to return with the noodles and started tucking in. The carrot cake was delicious. Fried with chilli flakes all over, it is not spicy at all, with the chilli just about adding some taste and excitement. The cake itself was soft but solid to the bite, smooth and tasty; the egg fried beautifully like a smooth scrambled egg without the scrambling or milk; and there were lots of carrot pieces sticking out, as well pickled turnips! Munchy munch!

The entire plate of carrot cake was filled with the very well fried smooth egg. This carrot cake is so wonderful I wasn’t sure which part I liked best, the egg, the cake, the pickled turnips, or the chilli flakes. Each item was in abundance to create a delicious mix. You got to give it a try!

After each had a few mouthful of this, Zac the brother decided we should have more as Roger the other friend kept raving about the black version. Thank you Zac, I can do a review of the black one without having to pay for the carrot cake! No luck Ziggy…. He was sold out by then! Barely 5 mins after I bought mine!

Didn’t quite believe Zac, as it was barely 1020am, I went to double check. Yes Mr Yang was packing up. I asked what time he starts, 545am… I jokingly asked if it’s some fengshui thing he starts at 545… he laughed and said he could be ready by 530 most of the time but 545 is usually safer. So early birds, come catch your cake….

I came back to try the black version another. There were 5 persons before me, took 10 mins to reach my turn. Turns out, it takes a while for the boss to get a whole big pan of cake ready for the next batch, once it’s ready, the carrot cakes are dished out in turn. If you’re lucky and you reach just as he has finished preparing, you’ll be served in 5 mins. The Q is really not that bad unless you’re unlucky and he sold out his pan full when it’s your turn. Then it’s about 10-15 mins wait.

The black carrot cake has the same wonderful egg and cake, good amount of pickled turnips. I find that it is a little bit on the sweet side, as the boss would scoop out some cake on the side and cook each plate of black cake on a small pan by the side, he might be inconsistent on a small pan, margins of error tighter. So if you’re not into something too sweet, maybe just let him know to be “less sweet”….

I would go for the white version next time, tasted fresher without the black sauce, and you get to enjoy the delicious cake and egg much better.

Geylang Homemade Carrot Cake 扬氏芽笼自制菜头粿

7 Eunos Crescent, s400007

545am – 1030am (til sold out which could be 945-10am sometimes), closed on Mon

FriedCarrotCake

Carrot Cake

Aug 2021

This stall has been around since the food centre started, with carrot cake made by the handsome stall owner. That is my guess as to why my small appetite brunch partner suggested, “Let’s share a carrot cake” despite already having a plate of wanton noodle…

Good, she bought, and chatted…with glee, with the owner. I’d have done that anyway as the stall has its attractive charisma, $3 saved.

The black version was ordered, not sweet enough, wondering who/what she was referring to as I thought the carrot cake is decent in that department. Texture wise, it is soft yet compact, not the watery floury soft. A well fried plate of carrot cake which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m certain this stall is still standing not just because of the owner’s looks, or sweetness, but the quality of his product…

(Carrot Cake) Fried Carrok Cake (Semb) 2.jpg

Fried Carrot Cake

590 Upper Thomson Road, #01-14 Sembawang Hills Food Centre, s574419

9am – 6pm, closed on Wed

Ghim Moh

Carrot Cake

Sep 2021

Signature Bottom Charred Carrot Cake

The Q for this can be long but the wait is decent, they cook by batch so if you arrive just as they start to cook the next batch, the wait could be 5-10 minutes longer. Operationally efficient, they have 2 chefs, likely husband and wife team, one does the white carrot cake, the other the black. A young man, (or a young lady) would go down the Q taking orders, if you are lucky, you can get served ahead of the Q if your order is for the white and those ahead are black, or vice versa.

Now for the food. The carrot cake itself felt a little powdery, could be a lemon that day I tried. I didn’t ask but it is pronounced proudly that their carrot cake is handmade daily, fresh.

Their draw is the crispy fried bottom with a soft top. The white carrot cakes comes fried with a hint of char, crispy at the bottom, while the rest of the carrot cake is filled with nicely cooked eggs. Every mouthful would have about 30-70 crispy to soft ratio. Lovely.

The black carrot cake is pretty regular, I don’t find their dark sauce too fantastic, but I do notice they have about a 70-30 order for the white so the black is quite popular too.

There is another one at ABC Brickworks if you live slightly more central….

Ghim Moh Carrot Cake

20 Ghim Moh Road, #01-16 Ghim Moh Hawker & Market, s270020

630 – 1pm, closed Mon and Tue

6 Jalan Bukit Merah, #01-140, Singapore 150006

745am – 6pm (3pm on Sunday), closed on Mon

333

Carrot Cake

Aug 2023

Home of the masala carrot cake

This stall looks impressive, it has a come try me look, the moment I set foot on this food centre, I thought so, except it was closed. Came back another day and noticed they offer masala carrot cake on top of the usual, after I ordered my mixed…

I was too curious and returned again for the masala. Masala is a spice mix used to make curry, originating from India. The most direct and not complicated introduction is that this is a curry flavoured carrot cake. Indeed, amongst the carrot cake, you’d find curry leaves!

Interesting flavour, a wonderful idea. It was quite a good invention, but I’m not sure I would be craving for it. We shall see but I doubt so. A nice subtle curry flavour came with the masala carrot cake, went well with the cake, well worth a visit to give it a try. The carrot cake is likely factory ordered, it is solid, of the right texture and taste.

The mixed carrot cake was also decent, fried well. All present on that day preferred the black.

Maybe when we visit this place again, we will ask if we can order the masala plus black mix!

333 Carrot Cake

80 Circuit Road, #02-16 Circuit Road Market & Food Centre, s370080

6am – 1230pm, closed on Mon

https://www.facebook.com/333CarrotCake/

https://www.instagram.com/333carrotcake/?hl=en

Zhong Mei

Carrot Cake

Sept 2023

Delicious self made carrot cake from 2 affable elderly brothers

Selling carrot cakes for the last 50 odd years, the Wong brothers started at the Paya Lebar area in the 70’s since they were teenagers. They didn’t go to school, “not too good at those things, had to start working to survive”.

Despite this, the 2 brothers were very friendly and chatty. They are the first bosses I felt compelled to ask to take photos of. Starting work each day at 3am, they would steam the carrot cakes and be ready for sale around 5am.

Unfortunately, they don’t do a mix of black and white, so the white one first. Lightly spicy, the carrot cake was slightly soft and moist in texture, but tasted wonderful with the chilli, the presence of radish obvious.

The black version was sweet, obviously, with the sweet dark sauce. Different from the usual black carrot cake which is moist due to the black sauce, theirs was slightly dry, but excellent, I prefer this to the wet ones.

We liked both their versions of carrot cake, Jiak Kaki Yao was so impressed he insisted I must give them a mention. Likewise Mr. Yao…. Likewise.

These 2 brothers have spent their whole life making wonderful carrot cakes for all of us, we can't help but wish them well. Every time I come to Bedok North, I head straight for them, if nothing else, just to make sure they're still in business. Though it will be heartening to see them retire and rest, a part of me long for their carrot cake, another part just to see them...

Zhong Mei Cooked Food

538 Bedok North Street 3, s460538

5am – 1pm, closed on Mon

Good Spice

Carrot Cake

Mar 2024

Mrs. Ziggy’s favourite, it’s quite good!

Everytime we are here, she went for this. Funny thing is, carrot cake is not her favorite food at all.

Obviously I have had a bite or two, and thought it was quite good, but I kind of needed some affirmation. One day I was here with some Jiak Kakis… time to find out!

Ordered a mixed for $4, I was impressed already as many places eould demand a premium for mixed carrot cake, $4 was a medium plate here.

Yao was the first to go for it, hands on the cake even as I was taking photos… he was quite impressed, he actually told Alan to try “it’s quite good”.

Nice solid texture, the white side had good amount of egg and was suitably savoury. The dark side was a good sweet taste, blending savoury and sweet very well.

Uncomplicated and a very good plate of carrot cake here! No wonder she likes it, it’s just like me…

Good Spice Carrot Cake

41A Cambridge Rd, #01-20 Pek Kio Market & Food Centre, Singapore 211041

6am – 1pm, closed on Wed

Kim Lee

Carrot Cake

Sept 2023

Marvellous plate of carrot cake, like a good kiss, eyes naturally close as you chew

With short opening hours and a 5-day week, it was no wonder they always seemed to be closed when I was here. Today I finally get a chance to try this.

It was impressive! The carrot cakes are made in house daily. Like all hand-made carrot cakes, they were slightly on the moist side, but of good enough solid texture and taste.

Thereafter, Kim Lee uncle’s cooking skills made this into a stupendous dish.

The carrot cakes were mostly soft, moist and chewy, the remaining 5-10% charred. The charred bits were crispy and often came in bits and pieces, giving this dish some crunch, and some interesting twist in taste; like burnt ends of well-cooked meat. Add to this, the eggs were fried just right, not overcooked but perfect to have the lovely taste and soft texture of an egg retained.

The beauty of the crisp and soft combo was unlike many other good carrot cakes, where you get a good layer of crispy cakes with the top providing soft texture. At Kim Lee, they were crispy charred bit interspersed amongst the soft body of cakes and egg. Texture wise, it was lovely.

It was wonderful taste wise too. The beautiful aroma and heat from the plate of carrot cake hit me the moment Kim Lee Aunty laid it on my table.

The amount of salt and spice Uncle put into this was just right, upgrading the taste of the carrot cake and eggs to taste naturally delicious, with the strong heat from it delivering the punch into your senses.

The black version was just as impressive, with the same good amount of charred bits, sweetened charred bits always tastes great. The amount of dark sauce put into the carrot cake was again perfect, it was not too sweet, and did not over power the taste and texture of the carrot cake.

Kim Lee does not not have a Q as customers would place orders then go to their seats, Mrs Kim Lee has very good memory, and would deliver each plate to the customers, as long as you sit around the area; otherwise, you’d have to return to collect. The wait is usually 10-20 mins, it’s worth the time!

Kim Lee Carrot Cake

49 Sims Place, #01-30 Sims Vista Market & Food Centre, s380049

730am – 12pm, closed on Mon and Tue