Chey Sua Carrot Cake at Toa Payoh

Taken with iPhone

Fried carrot cake has to be one of my favourite breakfast. Now, fried carrot cake has got nothing to do with baked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake we are talking here are the steamed types, not unlike steamed yam cake but generally softer. The steamed carrot cake is cut into pieces and fried with some chai-poh pieces (these are "salted turnips" - deliciously salted and yet sweet tasting) and egg. Some people add sweet dark soya sauce to the fried carrot cake and that is commonly called the "black version" of fried carrot cake. Others add only seasoning like salt and pepper and this is commonly called the "white version" of fried carrot cake. In both versions, chilli sauce is an option.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake at the Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Food Centre sells one of the best "white version" of carrot cake I've eaten. The carrot cake came looking like rosti. It was crispy on the outside and also looked like someone was lightly brushed it with a thin layer of chilli sauce.

When you bite into it, the contrast of the soft carrot cake and the crispy egg layer makes this a winning dish. The chilli sauce and "chai-poh" pieces adds to the flavour of the dish.

Apparently this store closes promptly at 1pm daily (except Monday when the store doesn't open at all). The owners looked rather fierce (they were telling off a customer before me that he had waited for 45 mins as they informed him and not the 1 hr he insisted he had waited) and yes, the wait is a little unbearable (I was told the wait was 45 mins as well. I waited for 40 mins).

But it is a very good fried carrot cake and one that I'd probably be willing to wait for 45 mins at some point in the future again.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake

Block 127 Toa Payoh Lorong 1
#02-30
Open Tues-Sun from 6am to 1pm (Closed on Mon)

Luxemburgerli from Sprüngli

Forget the French patisseries and Japanese bakeries.

Sprüngli (pronounce it like spru-li), a confiserie in Switzerland sells the BEST macaroons ever.

According to me anyway.

These mini macaroons are airy and not as dense as most macaroons I've eaten. They are also surprisingly not as sweet, which the main problem (for me) for most macaroons. I'm not sure why they don't taste as sweet, but I think it's probably due to the way the filling in the middle is balances the sweetness of the shell. For example, the chocolate macaroon has a slightly more bitter filling and the raspberry one a slightly more sour filling. Together with the airy shell, they taste just perfect.

They call these mini macaroons Luxemburgerli.

And I bought quite a few to eat whilst I was in Switzerland and  alsobrought home a box of them all for myself. (Yes, I told The Husband explicitly that all the macaroons were for me and me only. Hahahaha.)

They come in great variety of flavours ranging from chocolate, pistachio, raspberry to Bourbon vanilla and Champagne Gold. They also seem to have weekly specials. I had a rhubarb one which I thought was pretty good. Another one I tasted was extremely delightful - it was a raspberry and chocolate mini macaroon with a very tart raspberry jam in the middle.

I'm salivating now at the thought of the macaroons and wish they would set up a store here in Singapore.

Apart from these irresistibly macaroons, Sprüngli also sells amazing Swiss chocolates. Their Truffles Du Jour are very good - they are made from chocolate ganache (chocolate, fresh cream and butter) every day and sold within 24 hours of production. Yum.

They also sell a wide variety of pastries and I ended up gaping at all the different products in each store I went into.. so much so I did not take a single photo of any of the stores.

Well, I'd leave you with the Sprüngli website to marvel at the pictures there. (There aren't too many pictures on their website though.. Nothing like the shops..)

I'm truly sorry that my photos do not do any justice to these amazing mini macaroons

 I only remembered to take a picture of the front of the counter at the airport. 

Once I ventured near, I forgot all about photos..

Notes: A bit of background on the word Luxemburgerli I've found over the internet. Luxemburgerli is a registered trademark by Sprüngli. Similar to the French macaroon, the Luxemburgerli is smaller in size and is lighter and more airy in consistency. It was invented in 1957 by confectioner Camille Studer. The term "Luxemburgerli" was derived from her nickname a colleague gave her based on her country of origin.

Food and Drinks in Switzerland - Part 2

We came across a few really cool drinks in Switzerland.

But first let me say that I think drinks in Swiss restaurants and cafes are amongst the most expensive in the world. In a normal restaurant or cafe, a bottle of coke would go for about 4 to 4.50CHF. I tend to opt for Coke Zero (very cutely called Co-ka Zero by the locals) and that would cost about 5 to 5.50 CHF. Even sparkling water would cost about 4CHF per person.

Ouch for stingy me.

Since The Husband and I were both not drinking alcohol or coffee, we ended up trying a variety of drinks - milk shakes, different soft drinks, different brands of sparkling water (which I must say - most of the water we had were great, thanks to the bountiful supply of spring water in that region).

These are the few special drinks from Switzerland that I like:

1) Rivella.
Apparently, this is a very Swiss drink. When my Swiss colleagues heard I've tried Rivella, most of them ask which colour I prefer. There is red Rivella, blue Rivella and green Rivella. The red one is the original flavour. Blue is a diet version (I think) and it seemed to taste lightly as well. Green seems to be a new flavour, with some green tea in it. My favourite is the blue one.

2) Schorle.
Schorle is a German beverage made from diluting juice or wine with carbonated water. The most common variety is Apfelschorle, i.e. apple juice with sparkling water.

Ramseier seemed to be the most popular brand and have 2 kinds of sparkling apple juice - one that comes in a green bottle (RAMSEIER Süessmost) and one in a clear/ red bottle (RAMSEIER Schorle). The one in a green bottle is the classic version and the other is a lighter version. I liked the RAMSEIER Schorle - I thought it was extremely thirst quenching and refreshing. Good after a long walk on a warm afternoon.

3) Caotina and Ovomaltine
For warm drinks, I like Caotina (a brand for hot chocolate) and Ovomaltine (yes, you guessed it right, Ovaltine!).

These come usually with steamed milk and they weren't overly sweet. In one of the cafe we went to, The Husband ordered Ovomaltine and they gave him a cup of steamed milk and a packet of Ovamltine. He complained jokingly that for 5CHF, they should at least make the Ovaltine for him. I thought it was hilarious and took a picture of the drink.

I brought home a box of Caotina Noir from the supermarket. It's a dark chocolate drink powder made with real Swiss chocolate. It is made with 45% cocoa and can be drank with hot or cold milk. I really like this a lot because most hot chocolate drink powder is too sweet for me. This is just nice, I think - not too bitter and definitely not too sweet.