Fried Carrot Cake @ Clementi 448 – White & Black Carrot Cake Still Going Strong Since the 1960s

You know the drill when it comes to lines in Singapore, especially when they are food-related — long queues equal good food. And there’s a popular carrot cake stall that sees consistent long lines in Clementi 448 Market & Food Centre that goes by the simple name of Fried Carrot Cake. 

First started in the 1960s as a pushcart stall, the beloved carrot cake stall is now helmed by third-gen hawkers who can fry up mean plates of carrot cake. Their radish cakes used to be made by hand in the early days but the stall has since switched to factory-made ones. That doesn’t mean their nosh isn’t as good though! 

In fact, the young hawkers take the extra steps of double-frying their carrot cake with a mix of vegetable oil and pork lard oil to achieve a firm texture and stronger flavours, as well as using a generous portion of eggs. 

No doubt there is a bit of waiting to be done but one of the hawkers goes down the line to take orders before hustling back into the kitchen to cook them up in a second wok alongside the main chef. You can opt for either black or white carrot cake($3.50, $4.50 or $5.50).

I decided to get one of each at $3.50, and started off with the white carrot cake. The radish cubes were indeed firm and had a beautifully smoky fragrance in addition to a lovely savouriness. It was fairly eggy and very cooked through with crispy edges to the eggs and bits of chye poh (preserved radish). 

There was also a decent amount of chilli thrown into the mix that gave the dish a spicy punch. At times, however, the white carrot cake can come off as a little dry, but overall, this was still quite the pleasant dish. 

The black version emerged superior. The sweet taste of the dark soy sauce came through perfectly without being too overwhelming and the amount of chilli added in was adequate as well. I’ve always had a soft spot for the black version because the saltiness of the chye poh makes for a perfect match with the sweetness of the black carrot cake. In fact, I wish they could have added in a tad more chye poh. 

It’s definitely heartening seeing young hawkers take up the wok and dedicate their time and efforts to dishing out good ol’ hawker favourites. I wouldn’t fancy standing in line for it again, but many have grown up with the taste of Fried Carrot Cake and have remained loyal fans till this day.

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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