Char Kway Kak (fried daikon cake)

‘炒粿角’是我從小就喜歡吃的小食，記得我十岁左右，有一次大人給我零錢去買夜宵，我就去買了一包炒粿角。我看着那人在炒着賣给我的粿角…看了很生氣！拿着我那包粿角回家，吃着粿角时，我還是氣，眼淚竟從我的眼睛流下來… 我哥姐問我為什麼哭，我很氣的說那人賣的粿角很小包（即是比其他人賣得貴，給的粿角數量很少），我哥姐也認為是很小包，但說我何必為了這而哭，他們的話讓我覺得有理但又覺得pai seh（難堪害羞）。從小到大我的眼淚都不常聽話，很強的喜怒哀樂都会牵引它出來…

既然粿角是我愛吃的食物，那還不自己做來吃嗎？食譜裡有两種粿的制做，分别是有白蘿蔔及無白蘿蔔。我選擇做白蘿蔔粿… Steve帮我做粿。先煮熱至呈糊狀，然后蒸成粿，之后須冷放至少六小時，所以隔天我才炒粿角。想不到它很費時又多功…啊，請拜托那位馬來西亞華人可否在這兒開一間檳城食物的餐館！

Steve不吃我炒的粿角，他走寶啦，多麼好吃嘛！

‘Char kway kak’ (fried daikon cake) is one of my favorite foods since I was a kid. I remember when I was around ten years old, an adult once gave me money to buy supper. So I went to order a char kway kak for carry out. I felt angry…when I saw that hawker who sold char kway kak to me! I brought the char kway kak back home and I was still angry while eating it; tears were running down my face…. My brother and sister were asking what happened to me, I said that hawker sold me a tiny pack of char kway kak (it was expensive compared to other hawkers; the quantity of char kway kak was tiny). My brother and sister also agreed that it was tiny but said I shouldn’t cry about it. They were right, but made me feel ashamed too. Since the time I was a kid, my tears didn’t listen to me. It was so easy for them to be drawn out by strong feelings of joy, anger, sorrow and happiness…

As char kway kak is my favorite food, why not make some for myself? We found two recipes for making the cake. The difference is one has daikon (white radish), but the other does not. I chose to have daikon…Steve helped me make the cake. It needed to cook, then steam, and then cool for at least six hours. So I fried it the next day and only then I realized it took time and a lot of work…. Ahh, some Chinese-Malaysian please open a restaurant here that serves Penang food!

Steve didn’t want to have my char kway kak. He lost – it is yummy!