Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao: $6 black carrot cake with prawns & generous chye poh

Asking where to find the best chai tow kway in Singapore is a surefire way to start a heated debate. Many Easties will inevitably recommend that you visit Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao at Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre.

This stall has been around for years; some regulars have been frequenting it since their primary and secondary school years. It’s well-known enough to even have appeared in the Straits Times in an article recommending carrot cake stalls.

In recent years, some customers have noticed that the man behind the wok isn’t the usual uncle every day but a younger man. It doesn’t taste quite the same if it’s not the uncle, according to some.

So, I was quite lucky that it was indeed the uncle working his magic at the cooking station when I visited.

What I tried at Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao

You can’t order a mixed plate of black and white chai tow kway at  Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao. I’m a huge fan of the black version, though, so it didn’t bother me that much. If you order the biggest portion of the Black Fried Carrot Cake (S$5) you can ask to have it with Prawns (S$6).

As it was the biggest portion, I was taken aback at the size of the plate. It really didn’t look like a large portion of carrot cake. I even placed my second order of White Fried Carrot Cake (S$3.50 for Small, S$4 for Medium, S$5 for Large) and the plate of black carrot cake side by side, and the difference didn’t seem that big between them.

The next thing I noticed was that the radish cakes were all chopped up into little bits. Usually, there is some variety in size but everything here was cut up as finely as it could be. I did, however, really like the deep caramelised colour.

As expected, the dish was delightfully charred and rich with smokey wok hei. While the way the radish cake was cut up made everything look all squished together, it simply made it easier to shovel the carrot cake into my mouth. That was helpful since the only utensil you get is a small fork.

The generous amount of chye poh worked in tandem with the garlic and black sauce to create a medley of savoury goodness. To balance that out, the addition of prawns added a bit of sweetness to the carrot cake dish. It certainly added a layer to, which without it was, a traditional plate of chai tow kway.

If there was something I felt was deeply lacking, it was the amount of egg. Sure, you can opt to have Extra Egg (S$0.80), but I feel the dish should already contain a good amount by default. Because of the lack of egg, and, it will lack a certain sweetness if you don’t order any prawns. The sticky and rich black sauce will undoubtedly overpower everything.

As previously mentioned, my second order at Song Zhou was a small portion of the White Fried Carrot Cake. I’m not sure how else to begin to describe my experience with this white version other than that it was not at the same level as the black version.

Because it was the smallest portion, there was no option to add prawns. So, I will be looking at it purely on its own merits. Like the black version, the radish cakes were cut up into very small bits. Maybe because it was in a smaller portion but the egg for the white version looks like it had more than the plate of black carrot cake.

On the surface, the dish looked nicely charred. That said, as soon as I took a bite, there was a weird toughness to some bits. It also tasted bitter as if it was burnt. It was unfortunate as I did feel like there were more eggs in the white version. But you can barely taste much because of the tough and bitter parts.

The only saving grace was that this was the smallest portion so it wasn’t a chore to finish.

Final Thoughts

If you’re ever in the area, just order the black version at Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao. I don’t say this less as a lover of the black version of chai tow kway but mainly because the white version was sorely disappointing.

The black carrot cake from Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao has a good balance of sweet and savoury. This is more so if you get it with prawns. I would recommend topping up for an extra portion of egg also, though.

Expected damage: S$3.50 – S$6 per pax

The post Song Zhou Luo Bo Gao: $6 black carrot cake with prawns & generous chye poh appeared first on SETHLUI.com.