Carrot Cubes : by a new generation hawker

Claire Huang, the owner of this recently opened stall in a coffee shop at Ang Mo Kio, serving 4 different types of carrot cake. There are the choices of traditional White Carrot Cake ($3/$4), Black Carrot Cake ($3/$4), Hottie Carrot Cake ($4/$5), and Bacon & Cube carrot cake ($5/$6). The Hottie Carrot Cake is served with Thai chilli and the Bacon & Cube is the fusion version with the addition of bacon cubes. I am not adventurous enough to try either and so I stick with the regular black carrot cake. Claire took my order with a welcoming smile. There was just another customer in front of me even though it was the lunch hour. 

Claire's father is a supplier of handmade carrot cakes to the other stalls for more than 20 years. It is those big metal trays of carrot cake that you often see in some carrot cake stalls. 

I waited for just a while for it to be ready. When I handed it to me, Claire said, "Be careful, it is hot." I usually like to have my black carrot cake with coffee so I ordered one to go along. I was excited to taste it but the first bite was slightly disappointing. The homemade black sauce is a bit too sweet to my liking. I could taste the saltiness but it did not come from the preserved radish (chai poh) which I could not taste much of it. The texture of the carrot cake was soft though. It did not turn out to be "very good" as mentioned by a prominent blogger. My Facebook friend tried the white carrot cake, he felt that the flavor and saltiness were fairly light and he would prefer those pieces of carrot cake covered in egg with more minced garlic and chai poh added. 

Claire is still new in the trade and to give it more time, she will make the improvement. We should support the younger hawker and it is definitely encouraging to see a new generation hawker striving to do her best to preserve the hawker culture. 

CARROT CUBES

Block 339 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 FoodPark Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 560339

Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 5.30 pm (Daily)