Best Dishes at Fu Ming (Redhill)

This is the one. Black carrot cake (chai tow kway) made from Fu Ming's own steamed radish cake, fried in wok with dark soy sauce until chunks develop crispy, charred edges while staying soft inside. The wok hei—the breath of the wok, that smoky, caramelized flavor—is what separates careless versions from this one. The S$5 portion is the amount that showcases their skill; smaller portions don't give the wok enough to work with.

The gentler sibling to the black version. White carrot cake uses light soy sauce instead of dark, letting the natural sweetness of the radish come through. The chunks are still fried until they develop some color and texture, but the overall flavor profile is less intense—it's meant to be eaten fresh and hot, letting you taste the quality of the radish base. Fu Ming's white version is noticeably softer than competitors because of their in-house steaming.

A simple glutinous rice ball (bak zhang) served as a side—it's soft, slightly sweet, and meant as a palate cleanser after the savory carrot cake. At S$1.40, it's an inexpensive way to round out your meal. Not the star of Fu Ming's menu, but a useful addition if you want a complete snack experience.

The budget option for carrot cake lovers. At S$3, you get the same recipe and preparation style as the S$5 version, just in a reduced volume. The downside is that a small portion doesn't benefit as much from the wok hei treatment—the wok can't work as effectively with too little volume, so the final texture and char won't be as pronounced. But it's still genuine Fu Ming quality.

The $5 portion allows for mixed—exactly half black, half white—which is the ideal way to order if you're indecisive or want to compare both side by side. You get to taste how the same base radish cake transforms under different soy colors and wok techniques. It's also practical for sharing, since you both get a taste of the house specialty.