Chey Sua Carrot Cake: Wondering what the fuss is about
Whenever you ask around about where the best carrot cake is, invariably someone will mention Chey Sua. In fact, by the way people talk about it in our forum, this stall's reputation is almost legendary.
My taste for carrot cake has also been undergoing some evolution. As a kid, I used to like the black one which is cut up into small little pieces and fried with an extra shot of black sauce. In fact, I still used to prefer black over white until quite recently. Now I find myself moving away from the Dark Side to embrace the white carrot cake.
Actually both types of carrot cake have their own merit. But the reason that I am leaning towards the white version is because it is a little more sophisticated than the black version. With the black version, most of the taste is in the sweet black sauce and the texture is not really an issue. But with the white version, the taste profile is more complex. You have the taste of the Chye Poh, the carrot cake itself and eggs which have their distinctive flavours. Then you have the contrast in texture between the crispy eggs and the soft carrot cake.
The contrast in texture is what Chey Sua does very well. And they do this by basically frying one side to a crisp while leaving the other side only lightly fried. So texture wise, this is a very nice carrot cake to savour.
However, I felt that the flavour of the dish lacked a bit of ooommph that day. Judging from the rave reviews from the forummers, this should have been something to behold. 4.25/5
Like many good carrot cake stalls, Chey Sua still makes their own carrot cake. In particular they steam theirs in small aluminium bowls which they claim are forty years old! One look and you can be easily convinced that they are forty years old. The stall was first started by the current owner's mother who passed on the skills to the daughter. According to her, it is still fried the same way that her mother use to fry.
Conclusion
A good carrot cake which I know has a loyal following. But I just can't help but wonder if I caught them on a bad day. I am sure there are many fans of this stall, so do let me know if their quality varies from day to day.
Chey Sua Carrot Cake
Toa Payoh Block 127 Food Centre
#02-30
Open 6am till 1pm
Closed Mondays
Posts
39 comments:
I find that Chey Sua's fried carrot cake is one of the better ones around but not fantastic. I'd give a 4/5. But I always enjoy carrot cakes that are made by the stallowner.
I feel that one of the item that makes the white version good is the chilli sauce. Without it, the dish tastes a little bland.
Chey Sua is one of my favourites...love the crisp exterior and nice flavourful interior. But the queue is sometimes very long.
I would say its nice but not fantastic. The queue and the oily carrot cake sometimes turns me off.
i find its ok only.. i stay at lorong 2, had a few times, still dun find it super fantastic esp for the long waiting time.
Personally i love the carrot cake (they only sell white too) at blk 111, lorong 1 toa payoh. Its the same coffee shop as Good Year Local Hainanese Chicken Rice Ball. The aunty who fried the carrot cake usually very pek chek with the guy (husband??) helping her, cos so many orders, the guy always confuse the order. $3 got tiny prawns, very old school.
Ohh.. time to go down and try.
So far chomp chomp is still my fave.
Follow by hougang block 401.
Clementi Central Chye Tow Kway is my favourite. The old man wears a straw hat while frying. The carrot cake is also made by him and is slightly sweet ... maybe that's why I like it. Chye poh is generously added. The dish might come out a bit mushy at times though. In addition, you can see the son who serves as the order taker skillfully flipping the plates and wrapping the dabao carrot carrots really fast. And he's also a fantastic service peron, he wipes the edge of the plate before handing it to you to carry back to your seat.
I must really make an effort to visit clementi central!
can go makan the sar po fun at blk 328 too!
I have tried 3 maybe 4 times.And I really don't understand the Q.On all occasion it was the same to me it was just too average my rating would have been 3.75.
Ditto, apart from the chilli sauce, I'm not a fan of this stall.
Liverpool, sar pou fun on!
My fav carrot cake stall! Check out this 美食寻根 2 video clip, fresh from the oven.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAuVjBbKGs4
Thanks for the clip Sen! Really good info on this Carrot Cake Stall.
This is super fast.Just saw this show on channel 8 this evening 8.30p.m.
I second gluttony's recommendation on Clementi Central's CTK. I think the white with chili is better than the black, though the latter is good too. Note the stall is closed on Mondays, as with many stalls there.
I third recommend the clementi carrot cake !!
It was a very OLD SCHOOL, thats is a pure greasy stuff, shioklicious !
Although I moved from the west to the northeast, I still missed the carrot cake ....
last time my frens n i will play badminton at the sports complex n then head down to the hawker centre and whack the carrot cake, the wanton mee and the very populart pork porridge.
Plse go n try n give a review !
you should also try the famous white carrot cake with the chilli that is pasted on the top of the carrot cake. The stall is at Bukit Timah Market and there are 2 copycat stalls along the same row !
that is perhaps one of the better white carrot cakes i had
Hi Derrick,
I would have to say that the famous bt timah carrot cake standards had dropped so much that its no longer as good as b4
I know it as I used to study in Ngee Ann poly n b4 its renovation, it was real good. after the reno, stalls came back but lost its mojo. I will still order the carrot cake out of sentimental reasons but its nowhere as good as it was.
Hahahaha! Aston, I like your phrase about losing its mojo! I am going to use it in one of my reviews one day!
Pity,
Chey Sua was closed when I tried Tian Tian Lai (nice but there's this artificial sweetness to the stock)
But anyway - jago, chomp chomp and bee bee for the win anytime!
Aston! It's been a while. Never see you at Sin Hoi Sai anymore. Congratulations on that article =)
just watched the you tube video !
wah, must go try ! cactus, shall we go during lunch ?
aston, i agree, standards have dropped somewhat, used to be the old man, now it is his kids doing it......we need austin powers.... sorry i mean ASTON powers to bring back the mojo to that stall ! =)
Sorry for the 1 sec lack in the youtube video, just realised after watching the video playback. :o
Sorry for the 1 sec lag in the youtube video, just realised after watching the video playback. :o
I think the old man frying Clementi carrot cake started out at the old Tiong Bahru market. There's some history to it but I'm not sure. Don't forget Fong's curry puff, Nam Kee HKM, pork porridge, wanton mee & you char kuay at the market if you guys go.
Sure Derrick, there are a few nice stalls in the fc and at the 2 coffeeshops around it. : )
**Edit Deleted previous message due to lots of errors.
I can only say that this stall auntie don't sell black carrot cake. But Ok, it tastes like other places carrot cake, with the crispier egg, which is rarely served outside, and I will give it a 3.75/5.
** PSST (Irrelevant). the Buzzing Casier Hokkien (Not prawn) noodles is also nearby. Also past by to try out during lunch time. Tastes Ok.
This stall was featured in yesterday's prog when they introduce teochew food.
This is the youtube video that Sen posted right?
i would say there's no qc for chey sua's carrot cake because when the stall is crowded, it's really greasy and less crispy. on days when it's not, then it's worth a try.
Daxter, whats a good window period to try it?
Daxter, whats a good window period to try it?
Fatty Weng over at Bukit Batok (I only know how to go, don't know what street - there is a large NTUC there) does a mean carrot cake (only available in the morning to noon)...
He switches to oyster omelette in the evening plus his famous fish soup
traditional white carrot cake shld be slight crispy on the carrot cake too. That takes skill & time. But these days, most just do a crispy on the outside & soft on the inside version. Not that nice!
The Clementi Chao tao keuy by the straw hat uncle is good. Its unlike the usual carrot cake which you see that comes in distinct pieces with that crispy egg coating. He mashes them up. HAHA. But its very tasty =)
I would also recommend the following stalls selling white carrot cake, one at Lavender Square, the one at East Coast Park Lagoon Centre (which sells popiah), and the one at Jurong Point food court on the 4th level, I think. They are good! :)
I know this is an old posting but I would like to share this info...
I like fried white carrot cake to be in the traditional style, i.e. fried loose pieces and not fried "pancake" style. My favourite stall for the past 28 years is Heng Carrot Cake at Newton Food Centre. It used to be an old uncle frying the carrot cakes with his sons helping out to serve plates of carrot cake to the customers. One of his son (believe it's the younger son) took over the same stall and amazingly could fry the same standard as his dad. After the renovation of the entire Newton Food Centre, the standard is still the same. Fast forward, now my husband, kid and mom-in-law also love Heng's carrot cake.
There is another stall with also the same name so do not go to the wrong stall...Heng is at stall #28. It's better to buy during the busy time when the wok is hot :)
Just moved to Toa Payoh hence looking at the TP food list.
Yes, the white carrot cake at Blk 112 Toa Payoh Coffeeshop is excellent! Me n my husband love it for breakfast.
Catch is to order only when the wife is cooking. The husband std really not that good.
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