There are peckish times when you would mentally cruise through your internal makan menu looking for a flavour that will please the moment. Some dishes will simply jump out and stop you dead in your thoughts.

Imagine, instead of sheeps, you envision chwee kueh, followed by mee pok tah, then chicken rice, rojak, mee goreng, pizza, roti prata , roast duck, fatty hamburgers, sup kambing, or luak… all jumping over the fence, one by one. Then suddenly, two platters of something messy, all well fried up in black and white with eggs, garlic and chai po (pickled lettuce bits), appears and grab you.

The sensation of an internal awakening rushes up from the stomach to the brains. You break out in a cold shiver, the mind is dead focused, your palate is on heightened alert and you begin to breathe deeply and wind up panting. You hold your breath, freeze that image, zoom in for a closer look and realise it’s…Chai Tow Kway (Fried Carrot Cake).

Oooh, the palate takes over. Wantonly yearning for that smooth and soft radish and rice flour cake to envelop it, teased with black sweet soy sauce and scrambled eggs, flavoured with garlic, salted with chai po and freshened with spring onions, or, a white version sans black sweet soy but replaced with pepper and garlic instead.

Ahhh… It’s complicating. What when some of them press bits of black mushrooms, pumpkin, yam, Chinese sausage and hei be (dried shrimps) into it, steam them and top it with fried shallots and coriander. It demands that you eat it, sliced, on it own, as it is. A soft and lightly savoury cake with all this tasty bits creating delicious havoc on your palate with a simple sweet chilli sauce on guard.

Mmmm…the joy of eating Chai Tow Kway or Fried Carrot Cake, actually a misnomer, as it is made with radish, which the Chinese considers as part of the carrot family…that….called white carrot.., hence…and, so….therefore…!!! zzzz….Don’t try to intellectualise it, it is like thinking about eating, you’re not gonna get there no matter how smart you are.

And it is a joy to know that these cakes are imperfectly well hand made. They vary a little in texture and colour now and then but are more than made up for with a consistent taste and preparation technique.

Remember, it’s about actualizing and manifestation. You eat, therefore, you are.

Lao Ji Cooked Food

Address Blk 336 Smith St 01-014 Chinatown Complex Food Centre

Opening Hours 5pm-7pm daily except Wednesday

Price From $1.50

The folks here has been at it for yonks. Daily, they steam about 24 trays of their heavenly Lor Pak Ko (radish cakes) that simply melts in your mouth. No biting required. No joke. Just observe the daily long queue of patient crowd that include some almost toothless ah por (grannies) and ah peks (old uncles). It doesn’t look much when they plonk these irregular little rectangular blocks of Lor Pak Ko onto a styrofoam plate, smothered with sweet and chilli sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds. But close your mouth onto a piece and they softly crumble and release the rich radish and rice flour cake flavour peppered with bits of hei be( dried shrimps). Most customers order a combo of radish and yam cake, which is another hit with them.

The clear all 24 trays within two hours each day.

If the queue is unbearable, then go for the shorter dapau (takeaway) queue. Just take the pack and eat it there.

Carrot Cake

Address Blk 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave4 01-164 Soon Seng Restaurant (coffee shop)

Opening Hours 6pm to midnight daily.

Price From $1.50

Mr Ngerng Mui Choo doesn’t even have a proper name for his twenty year old stall and customers don’t care much as long as he diligently churn out his very robust plate of Chai Tow Kway each day. This spritely 56 year old takes pain to fry every plate well, carefully and confidently flipping and tossing, just to ensure that they all end up as little rectangular blocks coated with eggs, garlic, black sweet soy sauce and chai po.

My take on his Chai Tow Kway is that it taste like, well… Chai Tow Kway. The eggs, soy, pepper, chai po does not mask the texture and taste of his own-made cake. With a huge steamer behind him, he works through 12 kilos of radish and a huge box of rice flour just to churn out 10 huge trays of steamed cakes ready for frying.

His version is not too oily nor soggy as he lightly burns the radish cakes with less oil, garlic and chai po on the huge flat wok before eggs are poured in. Watching him wield two steel spatulas in rhythmic motion as he fries is very reassuring and entertaining.

Jin Ji Cooked Food

Address Stall 96 Maxwell Rd Food Centre

Opening Hours 7am-3pm daily, except Wednesdays

Price From $1.50

They switched from selling mixed economic rice sets to selling radish cakes and Cantonese breakfast fare some ten years ago “because less things to wash and cook and more profitable” says stall owner Ms Irene Wang.

They manually make and steam almost 50 little bowls of their dense yet soft radish, yam and pumpkin cakes each day at the stall. Their winning factor is the value added zing…they stuff bits of mushroom, Chinese sausage, hei be and pumpkin strips into the cakes and top it with fried shallots and sesame seeds which explains the queues and why they sellout daily by 3pm.

It’s best to simply slice and makan it on its own or pan fry them, pancake style, in little thin slices with a hint of oil and garlic back home. I tried and fried, as advised by Irene, and it was magnificent. Just get it slightly browned at the sides and dunk into their chilli. The crispy outsides primes you well for the smooth and rich radish cake inside.