A Carrot Cake by a Different Name

When carrot cake travels to Singapore, it undergoes a complete makeover. A dish masquerading under the same name can be found easily in Singaporean food stalls, but it’s far from the cream-cheese-covered cake we have come to know and love.

Over the course of its journey to Southeast Asia, carrot cake becomes a mix of shredded daikon radish and rice flour, steamed and then stir-fried with eggs and generous amounts of preserved radishes. Then it's all drizzled with fish sauce. David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria writes about his first exposure to the Asian delicacy, known by another name as chai tau kuay. Read as he describes its smoky-sweet flavor and its “pleasurable heat.”

Carrot Cake of the Singaporean Kind from Leite’s Culinaria