Radish Cake

Radish Cake or Lo Bak Go or Turnip Cake or Chai Tow Kueh.

This is one of my favourite dishes that my mum has made. This is also the ONE recipe that triggered me to start writing down recipes properly.

Radish Cake

We are always overjoyed whenever my mum made this for special occasions. One day, I have decided to learn how to make this and asked the recipe from my mum. My mum, just like most mum, said, 'you need to add this and that, and the amount just goes by feel'. That wasn't helpful and I didn't dare to try as it involves quite a lot of work if you don't know the exact ingredients, exact amount and the steps. Then my kind sister scribbled down something when my mum made this again. But the scribbling is not too detailed, though it is better than the 'agar agar' recipe from my mum.

Using that scribbling and multiple phone calls to my mum and sis when I first made this, I have succeeded in replicating it. I was overjoyed and busy gobbling the radish cake down until I have forgotten to write down the details too. Then I tried a few other times, sometimes successful and sometimes not too successful. My hubby started to nag at me and asked me to start writing down the recipes. For a few years, I have always used time as an excuse until I have finally started writing down recipes since 2020. So, this is that recipe that triggers us to write recipes in digital platforms.

Ingredients

4             dried mushrooms

2 tbsp    dried shrimps

2 tbsp    dried scallops

1             Chinese sausage (XO sausage)

1             duck liver sausage

2             shallots

1             radish of about 800g

Seasoning:

1 tsp      Sarawak white pepper or normal white pepper

1/4 tsp  salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp hua tiao wine

1 tsp light soy sauce

Batter:

130g      rice flour

25g        wheat flour

25g        corn flour

Instructions

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in water for 2 hours. Soak the dried shrimps and dried scallops separately for 1 hour. 
2. Pour all the soaking water into a container after soaking.
3. Dice the mushrooms, shrimps and scallops. 
4. Peel the skin of the Chinese sausage and duck liver sausage and dice them.
5. Mince the shallots. 
6. Peel the skin of a radish. Use a hand grater to grate about 3/4 of the radish. Then use a knife to julienne the remaining 1/4. We want to have some thicker strips so that there’ll be some radish strands when you bite into it when it’s cooked.
7. Pour the grated and julienned radish into a wok. Add in the soaking water of mushrooms, scallops and shrimps. Cook for about 10 minutes until the radish is softened. 
8. Strain the radish and cool down the liquid for a few min.
9. Measure 1 cup of the liquid. Add in the rice flour, wheat flour and corn flour. Mix well to form a smooth batter.
10. Heat up some oil in a wok. Fry the shallots until fragrant.
11. Add in the diced sausages, mushrooms, shrimps and scallops. Fry for a few minutes to release the fragrance. 
12. Pour in the cooked radish. 
13. Add all the seasoning. Mix well. Taste and add more salt if needed.
14. Pour in the batter and mix well to get a sticky mixture. Off the heat.
15. Oil an aluminum tray or baking dish. Pour the batter into the tray and smoothen the surface. 
16. Steam over medium heat for an hour.
17. After steaming, cool it down before flipping it over a plate. Garnish with some diced bak kwa and spring onion.

Notes

• The radish cake can be eaten after it has cooled down. Just slice it and eat it. You may add some chilli, but in my opinion, it is already very good and flavourful without the need of any chilli.
• I personally like to slice it and pan fry to crisp up the surfaces, just like how it is served in dimsum restaurants.
• Another way to eat this is to cut it into smaller chunks and stir fry with eggs.
• The tray of radish cake can be kept in the fridge for a few days. If you need to keep it longer, store it in the freezer.

You can refer to our YouTube channel for the step-by-step video to see how this is made.