New Kim Tuong / Kien Tuong – Hard to Find Singaporean / Teochew “Carrot Cake” in NY

[Lau]

**For full post and pics**: http://www.lauhound.com/2011/02/new-kim-tuong-kien-tuong-%e2%80%93-hard-to-find-singaporean-teochew-%e2%80%9ccarrot-cake%e2%80%9d-in-ny/

I noticed New Kim Tuong walking through Chinatown and thought it might be interesting because of it’s got a Vietnamese name even though it was clearly a Chinese restaurant. I thought it might be Chinese people from Vietnam like Bo Ky and New Chao Chow that serve some Teochow (Chiu Chow / Chao Zhou) dishes.

I went home, did some research on yelp and menupages and low and behold it does have a few Teochew dishes, but what was more interesting was this post on yelp (http://www.yelp.com/biz/kien-tuong-ne...) that mentioned they serve chai tow kway (菜頭粿 / cai tou guo). Chai tow kway is translated to “carrot cake” in Singapore, so I decided I had to try this place as soon as possible (more on this dish later in the post).

The restaurant is a typical low end Chinatown restaurant with zero ambiance. The place seems to have a pretty bustling take-out business with locals who seem to be pretty friendly with the staff. The service was quick and the servers are quite nice. It is also exceptionally cheap ($3.50 for a bowl of noodle soup

)

On to the food:
- Complimentary Soup: They gave us complimentary bowls of a pork bone soup with barley in it. It was actually quite good, clean flavor, not too salty and with reasonably good flavor. 7.25/10
- Minced Beef Congee (Rice Porridge): This was interesting. The consistency wasn’t like normal Cantonese-style congee as it wasn’t nearly as thick rather the consistency was in between Cantonese-style congee and Teochew-style congee which is very watery, so much so that you can still make out the grains of rice. It was pretty decent although not amazing. The you tiao (fried crueller) was pretty standard, but good. 6.75/10
- “Pi Pa” Duck: This is a type of roast duck called pi pa ya (琵琶鸭). Pi pa is actually a type of Chinese musical instrument. It’s called this because it’s a pressed roast duck, so it’s sort of flat like the instrument. I’m not sure whether it’s Cantonese or Teochew because I’ve only had it a few times. It is listed in english as “pi pa duck” on the menu. The meat was tender, juicy and had good flavor and the skin was nice and crispy. They gave you a red vinegar chili sauce that was quite good and helped cut the fat. It was pretty good if you like fattier meats although I prefer the duck at New Chao Chow or Bo Ky. 7.25/10
- Chou Chiu Style Noodle Soup: This was a typical Teochew noodle soup with rice noodles, cha siu (roast pork), sliced chicken, fish balls, beef balls, cabbage and scallions. The soup was just okay, it wasn’t too salty, but it lacked complexity. The condiments all tasted fine, but none were particularly outstanding. Overall, I thought it was okay, but you can get a much better bowl at New Chao Chow or Bo Ky. 6.25/10
- Fried Rice Flour Cake (Qian Dan Gao): Chai tow kway is extremely hard to find outside Singapore, Malaysia and Chao Zhou (although I’ve never been to Chao Zhou). Even though it is translated to “carrot cake”, it actually has no carrots in it. It’s cakes made of rice flour and minced radish similar to Cantonese lo bak go (蘿蔔糕 / luo bo gao) that you get at dim sum except that instead of big rectangle squares its cut into much smaller pieces that are pan fried with a sweet minced preserved radish, egg, garlic, dried shrimp fish sauce and spring onions are sprinkled on top. Although at New Kim Tuong they do serve it as rectangles instead of smaller pieces. It’s a very popular dish at hawker centers in Singapore. The radish cakes were perfectly crispy on the outside, perfectly minced and soft on the inside. The condiments went really well with it and I particularly like the sweet minced preserved radish. It was a pretty good rendition although I would prefer if they cut it into smaller pieces. I also wish they had a good chili sauce like at Bo Ky or New Chao Chow as that would definitely kick it up a notch. I definitely recommend trying this dish out as it’s very hard to find. 7.75/10

Overall, this is definitely an interesting place and while some of the dishes were just okay, it’s definitely worth trying for the carrot cake.

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New Kim Tuong
83 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002

[kathryn]

It appears Serious Eats is a fan of their roast pork.
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/1...

[Lau]

hmm interesting, i love cha siu, ill give it a try

[ninrn]

I haven't lived in NYC for some time, but when I lived there in the early to mid-nineties, "carrot cake" or radish cake, and another version made with taro, were readily available at many Chinatown restaurants, particularly the vegetarian ones like Vegetarian Paradise and VP2. Has that changed?

[Lau]

well radish cake is readily available in chinatown, but it's the cantonese version (luo bo gao) which is different than the singapore version, which is actually from chao zhou (teo chew / chiu chow), which is located in the eastern part of guangdong (they are not cantonese though even though they are from the same province). singaporean carrot cake is not readily available in NY and not readily available anywhere in the US as far as i know

[ninrn]

Oh, if only New Kim Tuong delivered to Albuquerque....

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New Kim Tuong
83 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002

[fondey]

Thanks for the post Lau!

Do you know if the folks who own this restaurant are Singaorean? Malaysian?...

Have you by any chance come across Chwee kueh anywhere in NYC?

I am a Singaporean and I have been doing OK with some of the recent Indonesian rest. that opened in the past few years, but delicacies like Chwee kueh and Chai tow kway have been elusive here in NYC.

Are you Singaporean?

[Lau]

i actually dont know whether they are singaporean or malaysian, but they are cantonese or at least the speak cantonese amongst each other and they've got a really thick accent when they speak mandarin, so my bet is that they are from somewhere in south east asia (could be from vietnam given the name of the restaurant and the viet writing), if they were from china or hong kong they'd likely have a less thick accent.

i actually do know where to get chwee kueh in NY, you can get it at overseas asian, which i've reviewed: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/741087

i'm actually planning on writing another review on overseas b/c they have some hard to find stuff such as chwee kueh and ang ku kueh. i'm pretty sure they make them there b/c i don't know how you would find someone in america making stuff like this. their chwee kueh is ok, isn't not going to be like you find it in singapore. their ang ku kueh and some of their other dessert kueh are decent though, i like them, i particularly like this one they have that is filled with chopped peanuts and sugar, its pretty good. i stop by there to get kueh and white coffee sometimes, its at the back counter, they have a small area to buy some stuff from malaysia back there, they've got good foh san mooncakes at chinese new years (http://www.fohsan.com.my/) as well, i like them better than the regular ones b/c the pandan flavor is really nice

sanur has some of this stuff too, some kueh lapis and stuff like that, but i haven't really tried much of it, i've been meaning to though

im not singaporean, but i studied abroad there for 6 months when i was in college, so i'm pretty familiar with the food there....if you check my blog and click on singapore, i reviewed a few places from when i was there in dec 2009

[fondey]

Thanks for all the info!
Is this what you are referring to as Chai tow kway at the restaurant you wrote about?
http://www.lauhound.com/wp-content/up...
It looks very different from our SIngaporean variety. A bit like chopped up Cantonese luóbo gāo or turnip cake in comparison to our Fukienese variety that is called 'carrot cake.'
Is the taste really similar to what we have in SIngapore?
Sorry for asking, but I spent some time trying NYC Chinese 'Malaysian' restaurants because so many called them 'authentic' but was very disappointed with them in comparison to real Malay food.
It was not until some of the Queens Indonesian rest opened up that I found something worth eating that was like our Singaporean food.
So what is the real dope on this "carrot cake.' : - )

[Lau]

well you are correct in that it doesn't look exactly like the one in singapore, the biggest differences i found are:
- shape: in singapore they cut it up into much smaller cube like pieces as opposed to leaving it in bigger rectangles (as i mentioned in the post although i have seen it in malaysia in larger rectangles before); although i don't find the flavor that different
- scallions / egg: i feel like they use more egg and scallion in singapore
- chili paste: it's missing the great chili paste that you get in singapore, which i think is the biggest difference between this one and the one in singapore. When you get a good one in singapore the chili paste just makes it so much better as i said in the post i wish they had the teochew type chili paste that they offer at new chao chow or bo ky

for other people, this is what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ1zDc3skIk

re: malaysian food, i am with you on the state of malaysian food in NY, generally i will go to either overseas or taste good if i want it, but even then there are very specific dishes i find passable and others i find to be awful. malaysian food unfortunately is not very good in NY (and in the US in general actually).

also, since you're looking around for singaporean type food, there are some teochew places you might want to try as you can find something similar to mee pok / bak chor mee (although no where near as good as singapore....i was at hill street tai hwa in dec 2009 and i forgot how good it is there). If you go to new chao chow or bo ky then you can find it although i'd recommend new chao chow over bo ky as i find their soup broth to be more fragrant and i also get their teochew style duck is a bit better than bo ky. make sure to order to specify the following:
1) ask specifically for mee pok noodles b/c the mee pok noodle is not listed on the menu (on the menu they offer rice noodles and those thin cantonese egg noodles, neither of which is mee pok, but they do have mee pok
)2) ask them for the noodles on the side
3) they don't put any chili oil or vinegar in it like they do in singapore, so you'll have to do it yourself, but fortunately they both have homemade chili paste that is quite good
4) it's listed as "Cambodian Noodles" on the Bo Ky menu (in english) and "Combination Rice Stick Soup On The Side" at New Chao Chow

here's my bo ky review (i've been meaning to do a New Chao Chow review, but i haven't gotten around to it):
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/751160

oh yah and you can get pretty decent bak kwa in NY, i like ping's dried beef, but some people like ling kee better. there is also malaysia beef jerky (which i have not tried) and new beef king (which i find inferior

)

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New Chiu Chow
111 Mott St, New York, NY 10013

[Gastronomicon]

Was just at Bo Ky on Bayard last night for the Mee Pok Ta/Bak Chor Mee. It sucked ass compared to New Chao Chow. Even the Teochew Boiled Duck and Hae Cho (in Hokkien; "Har So" in Cantonese) sucked (it squished/melted in my mouth, ferchrissakes!). Epic fail! I truly mourn New Chao Chow's passing like you wouldn't believe.

Incidentally, you can query for Mee Pok Ta/Bak Chor Mee noodles by asking for "Cho Meen" ("rough noodles") in Cantonese. As to whether they have it or not, at least they will know what you're talking about.

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New Bo Ky
80 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

[Lau]

i didnt even know they had hae chor

i think everything about their bak chor mee is pretty similar to new chao chow except the soup isn't as fragrant as New Chao Chow's, who had a surprisingly fragrant soup (i love place like hill street in singapore that have really great fragrant soup) although when i went just before they shutdown their hae chor got much better and their bak chor mee got worse, but its sort of neither here nor there now since it's shutdown

[fondey]

Lau

I noticed your review of the Stinky Tofu (Chou Dou Fu) at Red Chopstick. I have been really missing it since Spicy & Tasty's new Taiwanese owners took it off the menu. UGH! S&T's was great and also varietal in preparation. Any good leads on Chou Dou Fu? Now the best one can do is find the deep fried crispy variety, which is pretty limiting and I have never found a replacement for S&T's.

[Lau]

i never had it at S&T, was it the fried kind or the kind that comes in sort of a soup?

generally i only really like the fried one (although i will eat any of them) and the best version is the one at red chopstick, the others ive had are not even worth trying although i guess the one at ah zong mian xian in the flushing mall is ok.

oh there is one i havent tried that could be good, in the golden mall there is a place that serves it and generally i like the food in the golden mall, so that could be an interesting lead

its a hard dish to find correctly in the US

[fondey]

S&T had this great dense and chewy variety. They made it fried crispy, sauteed with peppers, dry fried with chillies and peanuts and ma po style. It was the bomb. Now, no more, which is weird since the new owners are Taiwanese, Go figure. I will try the Red Chopstick one. Where based on the geography of the basement is the one in the Golden Mall?

[Lau]

hmm that sounds really good, thats too bad...i wonder if little pepper does it?

im not exactly sure, i think its the stall opposite chengdu heaven, not the skewer one but the other one. there is a post on chowhound and someone complains about the smell in the golden mall and then someone figured out that it was chou dou fu and i believe that post specifies which stall it is (i haven't gone searching for it, so i cant tell u for sure which stall it is)

[E Eto]

I believe this New Kim Tuong is the resurrection of the old Chowhound favorite from its former location in Elmhurst. I knew they opened somewhere in Chinatown, but haven't gone out of my way to find them. I was a regular when I lived a few blocks from that location. Good to know they're still going strong.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/2373...

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New Kim Tuong
83 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002

[Lau]

interesting, i didnt know that (assuming its the same place)

[Lau]

btw if you guys are interested in seeing what "carrot cake" looks like in singapore, here's a great blog i found that is dedicated mainly to singapore hawker centers http://ieatishootipost.sg/

click on carrot cake and you'll see a lot of different hawkers who sell it

[FoodDabbler]

Can you tell us more about how "Fried Rice Flour Cake" got to be called "carrot cake"? I'm interested in the origin of dish-names that mention ingredients not in the dish: egg cream, Welsh rabbit, Bombay duck, and so forth.

[Lau]

here's an interesting wiki article about it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_tow...

[FoodDabbler]

Thanks for the link and the one below.

[diprey11]

Wow, this hits the bull's eye. Thank you so much Lau!

[Lau]

yah it was a very interesting find, have u had carrot cake before?

[diprey11]

Last time was back in '05 in Singapore, but never afterwards in the US or Canada.
Please see this: // http://foodiesrgoodies.blogspot.com/2...
Believe it or not, I never ordered it in a dim sum place in HK, NY, or elsewhere.

[Lau]

carrot cake not a dim sum dish per se really meaning you don't go to some dim sum hall in singapore and find this dish. its very much a hawker center dish and i dont actually ever remember seeing it outside of singapore or malaysia now that i think about it

but if you try this dish and then go to a dim sum place and try lo bat go, you'll see the similarities

[klyeoh]

Interestingly, Lau, in the past couple of years or so, this stir-fried carrot cake dish (with pickled radish, eggs, shallots, chillis) has become quite popular in many dim sum restaurants in HK & Singapore. We normally order the dish by calling it "Malaysian-style carrot cake".
But you're right - a few years ago, this dish didn't even exist in a dim sum restaurant (except Singapore's now-defunct Neptune Palace restaurant which served it in the 90s).

[Lau]

yah i mean it's originally teochew i believe, so im kind of surprised it never caught on in HK since there is a decent sized teochew population there, cantonese people like teochew food (i love it) and it seems like a dish cantonese people would like, but i also wonder how popular certain things are shantou vs singapore (like how authentic is the teochew food in singapore) since things obviously change when someone has been living away from their original ancestral homeland for so long, who knows maybe something like this is more of a singaporean / malaysian teochew thing vs a real teochew thing

[klyeoh]

Teochew food was surprisingly widespread & popular in Guangzhou (more so than in HK) when I was there 2 years back - after all, Teochews are from Guangdong province, although their language is more akin to Hokkien in the neighboring Fujian province.

Teochew food in Singapore bore a lot of similarity to Teochew food in Bangkok, Thailand. That's because early Teochew settlers in Singapore back in the 19th-century were from Bangkok, where a large Chinese population was already in existence when the British first founded Singapore. Subsequent & continuous migration of Teochew from Swatow (Shantou, China) to Singapore ensured that the local populace kept the authenticity of their cuisine - but, of course, with the addition of chilli to the food, and as spicy dips, as the local Teochew population developed a taste for chillis.

Both my maternal grandparents are 2nd-generation Teochew in Singapore (by way of Bangkok). Some of my aunts/uncles (born in Singapore) married 1st-generation Swatow-born Teochews who emigrated to Singapore as recently as the 1950s. Our subsequent visits to Swatow/Shantou, the Teochew homeland, confirmed that our cuisine in Singapore still largely remained pretty true to their roots :-)

[Lau]

that's very interesting, you're the only teochew person i know that's been back to shantou / swatow (i dont know that many, 2nd or 3rd generation), so that a good perspective. i really wish they had more teochew food in the US, there's only 2-3 restaurants in NY (very limited offering) and little more in LA when im home. i love getting it when im in singapore / HK

[Gastronomicon]

Actually, I'm also Teochew on my father's side although I don't speak a word of it, unfortunately (he never spoke it to me). And not only is there a huge Teochew presence in Bangkok, there's also a huge presence in Vietnam: Do you notice that Mee Pok Ta can only be found in Vietnamese restaurants?

[Lau]

yah its actually interesting b/c i'm from southern CA and in southern CA there is a very large little saigon and there are some chinese restaurants there that are run by chinese people from vietnam and a good amount of them are teochew and the only teochew restaurant in NY (the other two shutdown) is run by chinese from vietnam as well

[FoodDabbler]

This is all fascinating. Thanks. Is the duck pressed to the point of the bones being crushed, as in the French style, or more just to flatten it (as in, say, chicken under a brick).

[Lau]

more the latter, the bones are not crushed