Char Tau Kway

I think I got the name spelled right(hopefully...). In any case, I'm sure most people who had this would know what it it(even if I can't get the spelling right..) Was a little nostalgic while flipping pages of some Singapore cookbooks and wanted to eat something familiar. Of course, being my greedy self, I HAD to make it immediately. So I dropped everything and started on my quest. I chose this dish coz (I thought it would be easy and quick.......WRONG!)I just wanted a one dish meal. It turned out to be a two step recipe!

First I went to the KC site to get a quick white radish "cake" recipe. Then I had to wait a little for the hot steaming "cake" to cool so that I can cut it to cubes to be fried. Overall result, it was pretty similar to that back home but of course, it's not home.

Note: Oh yah...DON'T feeze leftovers, make whatever you need or cook everything. I freezed mine and thought I could just thaw and make some more Char Tau Kway.....WRONG!!! It turned out soggy, mushy and even though the taste was there...the "cake" was a disaster and had the texture of soggy mushy mash! Not that great! I guess there was too much liquid in the cake when it defrosted and it couldn't hold its shape once it hit the hot wok! My husband didn't mind, but as usual, being the "anal" person that I am, I gave myself -1 out of 10 for the second defrosted batch!! Gross....



Char Tau Kway Recipe (the Dark and Sweet Version)
Servings: 6-8 (depending on how much each wants)

1st Step
Steamed White Radish Cake from KC

Ingredients
1 kg white radish
600 g Chinese Rice flour
6 cups hot water
1 tsp Alkaline Water
1 tsp salt

Method:
1. Shred radish and steam on high heat for 30 mins.
2. Add flour and water, salt and alkaline water to mix.
3. Put it over low heat to boil.
4. Stir continously till dry and sticky.
5. Turn off the stove and pour mix into a large square pan lined with glass paper.
6. Steam on high heat for 45 mins.
7. Wait for it to cool completely before slicing it.

2nd Step
Frying the cake

Ingredients
Salted preserved radish, washed (soaked it for a while if it's a little too salted)
Garlic, minced
Eggs, lightly beaten
Spring Onions, diced
Sambal (optional)

Method
Heat a little oil in the wok, add garlic and radish and fried till fragrant. Scoop them out.
Heat some more oil in the wok again; add the cubed radish cake and let them fry till the edges are a litte crisp and browned. Scoop them out again.
Heat some more oil again and this time, drop the beaten eggs into the wok and when fried it as you would with a scramble. When it's about 80% cooked, put the fried radish and radish cake into the wok and mix it up.
Add your seasonings; salt, sugar, kecap manis (Indonesian sweet dark soy sauce), dash of dark soya sauce and if you want it spicy, add some sambal(optional).
Finally, add the green onions and give a quick stir, dish it out, serve it with a side of sambal.

Note: For the steamed white radish cake, I added the alkaline water which I didn't think it made any difference (yes, I divided the recipe into 2 batches to see the difference). Besides it was a little too stiff to stir in the alkaline water into the mixture.
Also I thought it would have been a little more flavorful if I had added some pre-soaked dried shrimps into the mixture (of course, I didn't...*sigh*)and would have given it an extra "oomph" in the whole dish.
And since my husband was such a "purist", I didn't add any prawns in the final frying which I thought would have been great (I know the ones they sell at hawker centers don't have it).
For the amount of ingredients in the 2nd potion of the recipe; like that of preserved radish, eggs, spring onions and seasoning, they are all dependent on personal taste. Add more or less of each varies with your taste buds. Have Fun!!