Seng Huat Homemade Fried Carrot Cake

A common thread runs through my reviews of hawker fare, the slow death of Singaporean roots cuisine as the practitioners of this arcane art slowly retire like stars dying and winking out of the firmament of Singaporean culture. Hope as it turns out, does spring eternal and every now and then we devotees are given some good news, a reason to smile and keep that candle we’re holding for Singaporean hawker cuisine burning bright, and yes, as the song goes, we’ll keep that light on.
Seng Huat is just such a story of hope. Master Koh started hawking traditional fried carrot cake in the 1960s and perfected his craft over 40 years. His is the story of the Singaporean street food master hawker. One specialty, done perfectly and consistently over decades. He retired from the wok in 2000 when his son, the younger Master Koh took over as Master of the Wok. He still takes orders and keeps the quality consistent, his demeanor little different than Daisho Jiro Ono’s as portrayed in the food porn classic, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Yes, that’s him in the photo.
The result of course, is as good as it’s always been, maybe even a little better than in the latter years just before the Senior Master Koh retired. I can only begin to guess at the reason, but frying up a good sticky, almost carmelized homemade carrot cake is a game played most successfully with a straight back and strong arms. I have the utmost respect for Master Koh’s integrity as a craftsman. You see, for him, it’s all about the prouct at the end of the day and the Seng Huat reputation and less about his stature as the producer of that product. No chefly ego that needs constant stroking and tuning, just taking an honest pride in knowing that you’ve poured all your skill and experience into a dish that you can present as your very own with a clear conscience. And being rewarded in turn with the appreciation and loyalty of your customers and their families who continue to rely on your fine product generation after generation.
The carrot is not a red carrot, but something closer to the daikon. The cake is steamed and then held as the basic ingredient for the final act of stir-​frying, which is an inadequate description for what happens in the hybrid wok-​griddle. The resultant dish resembles a stiffened congee more than any kind of cake. When you spoon your first mouthful, you are walloped by a garlic fist, then stroked with the satiny smooth glove of egg, sweet soy, chye poh. You immediately go back for seconds. Add healthy doses of nostalgia and this simple dish of peasant food rapidly turns into a ride on the back of a wild tiger.
With the younger Mr Koh at the wok, this ride helter-​skelter into blissful oblivion need not end anytime soon…