Char Kway Teow, Fried Carrot Cake & Chui Kueh!

SG foodie has been craving char kway teow (henceforth known as CKT - Singaporeans has a love-hate affair with acronymns!) recently and was asking herself why, when there are CKT everywhere in KL too .... ah but there is a difference between the CKT in SG and M'sia... ok SG foodie can't vouch for the whole of M'sia but what she has tried so far in KL, Penang, Ipoh and nearby states are all the Penang-style CKT and SG foodie is craving the Singapore-style CKT!

The Penang-style CKT is scrumpalicious in its own rights with loads of eggs, pork lard crisps, waxed sausages (lup-cheong), chives, prawns and of course the essential cockles added in. It's a dry fried CKT and SG foodie says the best one she had so far is located at Lorong Selamat in Penang itself where each plate of CKT sets you back RM7. This charcoal-fired wok-fried CKT is well worth its price though as each plate is filled with about 2-3 big prawns, full of flavour and not too dry. SG foodie has been making annual prilgrimages to Penang specially for this CKT (and of course the other famous Penang foods but that's an entry for another time especially when the next prilgrimage is made!).

So far SG foodie hasn't found a CKT in KL that is anywhere comparable to the Penang one and would love recommendations so that when the CKT craving hits, SG foodie can go hunt it down! Pretty please! Now though what SG foodie is craving is the black Singapore-style CKT that is moist and fragrant and unfortunately only available in Singapore!!! Any recommendations for the best CKT in Singapore?

Fried carrot cake (lo bak koh in KL cantonese and cai tao kueh in SG hokkien) is also relatively different in both countries. The fried carrot cake in KL tend to be brown coloured, with eggs & bean sprouts and missing the chai poh. The cai tao kueh we have in Singapore where the hawker will ask if you want it white or black and SG foodie loves the both! SG foodie loves the black cai tao kueh especially at Ghim Moh Market Hawker Centre where the young couple also sells otak.

And you know what, only Singapore has CHUI KUEH, here don't have - they sell bowl kueh (woon chai koh) in the pasar malams here but this tend to be rather dense and heavy in texture and eaten with brown sweet sauce and some CMI chai poh... The small fluffy, smooth, white chui kueh and its oil-boiled chai poh are unheard of and hence can't be found here in KL.