Fried Carrot Cake

Fried Carrot Cake

Have you ever tried fried carrot cake? This is a well-loved breakfast item in Singapore and Malaysia.

For me, it's a well-loved breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper item. I used to work near Lau Pa Sat and would get a pack of this high calorie supper once a month.  There's something about the soften carrot cake and aromatic eggs that makes me craved for more.

While shopping for noodles at a local Asian supermarket, I came across a pack of ready-made carrot cake. I supposed that's the "divine" sign for me to make my favourite dish. =)

It's in the sauce!

Recipe

500g carrot cake
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons preserved radish
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon chili paste (optional)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 dash of pepper
3 large eggs
3 1/2 tablespoon of oil
2 tablespoon chopped green onion


1. Rinsed and soaked the preserved radish for 10 minutes.

2. Chopped and diced the preserved radish into small pieces.

3. Mixed the preserved radish with sesame oil and set aside.

4. Use a fork to break the yolk of the eggs. Add in 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Beat lightly.

5. Cut the carrot cake into cubes - approximately 1 cm each.

6. Heat up a non-stick pan with 1 tablespoon of oil over high heat.

7. Fry carrot cake till soften and lightly brown. At this stage, you should see all liquid from the carrot cake have completely dried up. Remove from pan and set aside.

8. Heat up non-stick pan with 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add in garlic and preserved radish. Fried till fragrant and lightly brown.

9. Add in chili paste, if desired.

10. Add in carrot cake. Stir-fry lightly for 1 minute.

11. Add in fish sauce, soy sauce, pepper and sugar. Stir-fry until well-combine for 3 minutes.

12. Spread the carrot cake around the pan and use the back of a spatula, lightly press down on the carrot cake.

13. Turn the heat back on high and pour eggs over the carrot cake. Swirl the pan to spread the eggs. Do not use the spatula to stir or move the carrot cake.

14. Once the eggs set, divide the carrot cake into 4 pieces using the spatula. Flip the carrot cake and cooked the other side for 2 minutes on medium high heat.

15. Plate and serve with green onions.

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Tips and Tricks

1. Using a non-stick pan is the key to making this at home. Carrot cake sticks easily to the pan during cooking. Use more oil if not using a non-stick pan.

2. Stir fry lightly each time after adding a sauce. For example, after adding the fish sauce, fry lightly before adding the soy sauce.

3. If the carrot cake looks dry during cooking, you can drizzle some water or oil to keep the carrot cake moist.

4. Make sure your pan is large enough to spread all the carrot cake nicely around. If not split the cooking into smaller batches and adjust seasoning accordingly.

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My Asian Kitchen

Here's some ingredients that I used for making the carrot cake.

Ready made carrot cake

Ready made carrot cake. You can find this in the refrigerated section of most Asian supermarket. Look for the vegetarian version. Otherwise, you can try your local Chinese vegetarian shop for this, especially during the Chinese New Year. 
 

Preseved Radish

Commonly known as "Chai Por" (菜脯, Chinese pronounced as "Coi Boo"). You can find this near the dried food section of most Asian supermarket.

Fish Sauce

Fish sauce can be commonly found near the sauce section of Asian supermarket - normally where you find soy sauce.

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