Ghim Moh Carrot Cake and traditional kuehs by Kueh Swee Swee

Today’s post is all about ‘kueh’ items from Ghim Moh market and food centre. We try the chye tow kway from the Ghim Moh Carrot Cake stall and some traditional kuehs from the stall with a cute name – Cakes n Mates by Kueh Swee Swee.

Ghim Moh Carrot Cake is quite a famous stall. Unlike some of the other popular stalls here which have long queues, the queue at this stall is usually quite modest because of the rapid cooking techniques. They are highly specialised, selling only  one item – carrot cake. At peak hours, two large pans are worked on simultaneously, one each for the white and black versions of chye tow kueh which are available in $2.5, $3, $4 and $5 versions. We bought a $3 pack of CTK for takeaway.

This is the carrot cake, ready to be eaten. This CTK has a firm bouncy texture. Quite a lot of egg was used, enabling the carrot cake bits to bind together so that they can be cut into rectangular-sized pieces. This is quite a neat and tidy dish.

This is a carrot cake we can eat every week.  It is hard to put a finger on why it is so good. Perhaps it is the type of chye poh used,  the generous use of eggs, the slight charring to form a golden brown surface and the texture. A perfect breakfast dish with a cup of black coffee on a Saturday!

Now we show you some other types of kueh from another stall – Cakes n Mates by Kueh Swee Swee. This stall is manned by a young lady, which may explain the catchy name of the stall. It sells quite a range of kuehs, mostly costing $1 each.

As you can see variety is the key here, there were only a few of each type, but the range was wide. We decided on the Kueh Ubi and Kueh Kosui. We never knew the names of these kueh until that day. If kueh ubi means tapioca cake, does it mean that all the road names in the Ubi area are named after the humble tapioca plant?

Here are the two kuehs in ‘swee’ poses after the journey home.

The kueh ubi or tapioca cake is made in many versions.  According to our untrained eye, we think that the one at Ghim Moh market is made of a block of baked tapioca topped with some caramelised gula melaka.  The pure tapioca taste was good. Add to that the sweet topping, and we have a great tasting dessert.

The kueh kosui or koh swee is usually made with tapioca starch flavoured with pandan leaves and sweetened with gula melaka. Fresh grated coconut completes the taste and provides the nice furry appearance. An Asian version of Lamington cake perhaps?  The Kueh Swee Swee version was very good. The key to a good kueh is the taste and the texture of the cake. This was right on both fronts – it was not too sweet, fragrant and was firm enough to hold up the fork but soft enough to eat effortlessly.

Both kuehs were very good – Swee Swee indeed! Our only complaint is that they were so small, although with hindsight, reducing the calorie intake may not be a bad thing.

Ghim Moh Carrot Cake #01-16

Cakes n Mates by Kueh Swee Swee #01-07

Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road Market & Cooked Food Centre
20 Ghim Moh Road
Singapore 270020