I’ve always loved Chai Tau Kueh and there aren’t many places where you can find this delectable dish. I’m of a Hokkien background and for some reason, I know this dish as Kueh Kak. The Boy however is Teow Chew (and insists that this is called CTK), so CTK is what we will go with. Apparently is a teow chew dish, and he is in the process of experimenting with this dish until he gets his grandfather’s recipe right.
In the meantime, this is the Hawker style version (which you can apparently get in Muar [a town in Southern Malaysia]).
There are many versions to this dish (and we’ve tried a few), and you can put as many or as little ingredients into it as you like, provided you follow the same basic recipe, which would churn out a dish that looks like this. Still fantastic tasting on its own, without all the other elements to make it look pretty (and sometimes you don’t have to :] )
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| Vegetarian Chai Tau Kueh |
(Stir Frying Ingredients – For 1 quarter of radish cake prepared)
2 tbsp of peanut oil (reserve another 1 tsp for later)
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tbsp of chopped spring onions
1 tsp of fish sauce
1 tsp of chilli paste
1 large egg
1 tbsp of preserved turnip (Chai Poh)
1 tbsp of diced lap cheong or crispy skin roast pork belly (siu yuk)
1 red chilli (sliced) (optional)
Bean sprouts (optional)
Coriander (optional)
White pepper
Method:
1)Add 3 tablespoons of water to the shredded radish. Steam radish in wok until it turns translucent. This should take 20 – 30 mins on a low flame. Take radish out and leave it to cool while you prepare the flour mixture.
2)Add a pinch of salt and sugar into your flour and mix with water. Stir the mixture thoroughly to remove any lumps.
3)Combine the radish with the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
4)Pour your final mixture into a round cake tin (we used a square cake tin instead) and steam in wok for 30 – 35 minutes over a medium-high flame.
5)Take the radish cake out and leave it to cool for a few hours. This should give it a better texture.
6)Once the radish cake is cooled. Cut out 1 quarter of it and keep the rest in the refrigerator.
7)Cut the quarter into smaller chunks (cubes).
8)Use a non-stick pan to prevent the cubes from sticking onto your pan. You would’ve most probably figured it out by now that they tend to be a little sticky (when you were cutting them into chunks earlier).
9)Heat oil and add your radish cake. Fry till the edges are brown and crispy-looking. (If you prefer a crunchier texture on the outside, leave it to brown further).
10)Add in garlic, lap cheong and preserved turnip. At this stage, you might find that the pan is a little dry. If that’s the case, add another teaspoon of oil. Fry till garlic is fragrant.
11)Now, add the chilli paste. Stir thoroughly and add the egg in. Add the fish sauce and a dash of pepper. Toss in the sliced chilli and some spring onions. Fry till the egg cooks.
12)Add the remaining spring onions and bean sprouts in and turn the flame off. Give a quick stir before plating up.
Thanks heaps for posting about this. It's my favourite dish!!! 😀 I'm sooo gonna try it out. 🙂
According to my mom, this dish is pretty difficult to make because of the amount of work involved in preparing it. This is very impressive!
Oh wow, we have similar backgrounds! My mum is Teow Chew and my dad is Hokkien :). We usually put prawns, chinese sausage, egg and beansprouts in ours with a bit chilli :). We have it every once in a while at home…love it!
impressive! yeh, agree this is quite involved =P.
Bryan: No problem.. it's soooo yummy!
Michelle: Thank you thank you… the work is in preparing the radish cake!
Ames4eva: I'm Hainanese and Hokkien.. the Boy is pure Teow Chew
Almostalwaysravenous: Thanks very much!
Opps, sorry I must have read it too quickly! I don't think we've actually prepared the radish cake from scratch so maybe we'll try that next time :). Great work!
Yum yum yum! I have a new appreciation for this kind of food since travelling to Malaysia for the first time this year. So good. 🙂
I luuurve radish cake although to the uninitiated, it sounds very strange. My cousin from Singapore however thought that our version of sweet carrot cake was very strange as he expected something like the radish cake! 😛
Ames: Lols… Thank you thank you!
Cindy: They are the best!
Lorraine: I must admit, same goes for congee and porridge! Imagine my shock and horror!! Lols
HI there! Lovely to find your blog. My mum is Hokkien and she really likes this dish. I have to admit the few times she gave me some I wasn't converted. But I'm willing to try again with this version because the photo seriously set my tummy rumbling 🙂
Radish Cake, hey? Sounds delicious! This looks beautiful. I don't know much about this dish. Is it the same/similar as Char kway teow? how embarrassing!! – sorry if that is a stupid question 🙂
Heidi xo
You need to add shallots to this dish. Before you add the sliced radish, fry some shallots in 4 tbsp of oil. Remove the shallots and add the cake. Add the fried shallots back at the end of cooking.
This is my favourite breakfast. Homesick now!
Shaz: Thank you thank you! I love this dish!
Heidi: Same same but different? Char Kway Teow is made from flat rice noodles.. whereas this is from a radish cake… but similar ingredients I guess 🙂
Anonymous: Thanks for the tip! We'll try that the next round 🙂
Ellie: It's good isn't it? Nom nom nom!
That looks fab. I've never cooked it before, but it does look a lot like one I ate in Muar! Will give it a go, although I doubt I'll get it as gorgeously crispy and brown like yours looks.
Injera: OH yeah!! You were in JB!!! I keep forgetting.. you'd be a good taste tester!! I must remember this!
A great looking chai tau kueh, good effort! If you are sending this for MMM do you mind grabbing a batch and link it back to us?
This looks amazing. I miss going back to Malaysia now. =)
Hi I-Hua, can I just say, BRAVO!!!
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
Your CTK looks super-delicious and great colour too. Thanks for sharing.
Aww you’re sweet! Thank u 🙂
OMG I tah pau this from C&R (London Chinatown) today. Not as good as Pulau Tikus market version.
Oh yeah! We make this at home pretty easily… so go replicate!
Alright, will let you know how it turns out when I do. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
And share a picture 🙂
I’m getting cold feet! Haha
Don’t! Just try it and let me know 🙂
So how did your the recipe come out? No comments over the result of the tau tau kuih. I will try if you succeed that is. Most recipes does not turn out
As I have some radish, I check out for a CTK recipe and yours stood out. You laid out yr recipe so simply and easy to follow. I am gg to try now.
Thank you so much.
By the way, can you help me connect to Little Teochew, I know Ju had closed her blog. I enjoyed all her recipes before she closed it and was sad to discover that.
I did not subscribed at that time as I was new to this thing.
Thank you for your help.
Hope she will accept me as her avid fan, a 67 year old lady, who wants to try out some nice recipes for my grandchild.
Thank you very much for this recipe. I tried to follow the recipe and made the kueh, but it turned out to be too soft and sticky. I cannot cut it into cubes as it keeps sticking together. Is there something I can adjust to the recipe to make it a little more firm?