Turnip cake is made of daikon (lo bak in Cantonese), a long white radish that’s commonly used in Asian cooking. There are three versions of turnips, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. For this recipe, I use the Chinese variety because it has more texture and larger easier to work with. I have been working this recipe with a very simple ratio, 4 – 2 – 1. 4 portion of turnip, 2 portion of water, 1 portion of rice flour. It’ll give you a firm enough texture for easy pan fry before serving.
Turnip cake is a must have item during in the Chinese lunar New Year celebration. The word (糕) means higher as we all want to move into higher position, more wealth etc as good luck. There are many variations to this recipe but I find this one easier to work with.
Ingredients
Turnip 1200 gm
Sugar 40gm
Salt 12gm
Chicken powder 12gm
Black pepper 5gm
Chinese sausage x2
Pork belly x1
Dry shrimp 200gm
Water 300gm
Batter
Rice flour 300gm
Water 300gm
Batter
Rice flour 300gm
Water 300gm
Method:
Mix rice flour with water, set aside
Cut turnip to a 3” length, chop stick thickness.
Place sausage, pork belly and dry shrimp on a large plate and steam for ½ hour till soften. Let it cools off and cut into small pieces.
In a pot, bring 300 gm of water to boil. Put in all the chopped turnip, and add salt, sugar, chicken powder, and white pepper. Bring the liquid to boil again. Cover the pot with a lid, turn heat down to medium low and cook for ½ hour or till turnip has softened.
After ½ an hour, add the already chopped sausage, pork belly and dry shrimp to the turnip, bring to boil again.
Use a ladle to transfer 1/3 of the hot turnip liquid from the pot to the rice flour batter. Quickly use a large spoon to mix it well, (don’t add all the hot turnip to the batter, otherwise the batter will get cooked and harden) then add another 1/3 turnip. Add the final 1/3 turnip and mix thoroughly till it becomes a thick batter.
Transfer turnip batter to a container; shake the thick batter till air pockets disappear. Cover the container with saran wrap.
Steam the turnip cake over water (high heat) for an hour and half. Check the water level from time to time ensures it doesn’t dry out. Let it cool off for at least two hours before slicing.
For best serving result, cut cake into rectangular slices and pan-fried before serving (1/2 inch thickness). Serve with chili and oyster sauce.
Chinese preserved (cured) pork belly
Chinese preserved sausage
Steam, for 1/2 hour, preserved pork belly, sausages, dry shrimps (soak in water for an hour)
Mix 300gm of rice flour with 300gm of water
Cut turnip to 3″ long and chopstick size
Measure seasonings, sugar, salt, chicken powder, and black pepper.
Place the cutup turnips and seasonings in a large pot with 300gm of water. Let it cook for 1/2 hour
Cut up pork belly, sausages and dry shrimps to smaller pieces (dry mushroom is optional)
Turnip should look translucent after 1/2 hour of cooking.
Add the already cutup pork belly, sausages and dry shrimps to the turnip.
Use a ladle to transfer 1/3 of the cooked turnip to the rice flour batter and stir well.
Add the rest of the turnip to the rice flour batter. Line a cake pan with Parchment Paper for easy transfer after cooking.
Transfer the entire turnip batter mixture to a cake pan and cover it tightly with saran wrap before steaming.
Steam turnip cake for 1 1/2 hour (high heat) and check the water level from time to time to avoid drying
Turnip cake is done after 1 1/2 hour from the wok steamer.