Yes, it is cake again following the last recipe on Water Chestnut Cake, from which you may check out why cakes are so welcomed during the Chinese New Year. Actually this turnip cake or radish cake (Law Bak Gou 蘿蔔糕) is not only popular for the Festival but it is also one of the famous dim sum here in Hong Kong, served either steamed or pan fried throughout the year.
I particularly love to make this cake during winter when the turnips are most juicy and sweet. Like the Water Chestnut Cake, this can also be prepared in advanced and be stored in fridge for 1 to 2 weeks, allowing me to serve my family and friends any time they are ready to be my guests during the holidays. Happy!
- Ingredients
- 2kg turnip (white radish)
- 300g rice flour
- 50g corn starch
- 2 pcs Chinese sausages (~100g)
- 6 pcs dried black mushroom
- 4 pcs dried scallop
- 30g dried shrimps
- 2 each shallots, finely sliced
- Marinades
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp wine
- Seasonings
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tbsp oil
Preparation
Turnips: Peel, rinse, shred (I use a food processor for cutting, which helps complete the task in just a few minutes). Rest all the turnip strips in a colander above a basin to drain and collect its juice. Draining the turnips is to prepare it for stir-frying as well as to reserve its juice for combining with the rice flour and corn starch.
Four Delicacies: We called the ingredients for cooking with the turnip the four delicacies, namely the Chinese sausages, dried mushrooms, dried scallops, dried shrimps.
Chinese sausages – rinse, coarsely chopped
dried mushrooms – rinse, soak in 1 cup of water for at least an hour or until soft, squeeze water in them and coarsely chopped, reserve water
dried scallops – rinse, soak in 1/2 cup of water for at least an hour, tear them into strips, reserve water
dried shrimps – rinse, soak in 1/2 cup of water for 10 minutes, discard water
Marinade the reconstituted, chopped mushrooms, scallops and shrimps for about 10 minutes.
Combine the corn starch and rice flour with 2 1/2 cups of water (inclusive of those collected from draining the turnip, soaking the mushrooms and scallops). Stir and mix well until smooth. Set aside.
Heat 3 table spoons of oil in wok over medium heat, sauté shallots till fragrant followed by chopped sausages, stir fry till they are also fragrant, then add in shrimps, mushrooms and scallops, keep stir frying. As all of them turn golden, about 3 minutes, toss in the turnip strips, add seasonings, and stir well. In about another 5 minutes, the strips will be softened and juice will exude from them.
Turn to low heat, slowly stir in flour mixture into the turnips (give the mixture a good stir before pouring in to avoid flour settling at the bottom). Turn and mix well until all incorporated well like a soft batter but is not runny, which almost like a sticky dough. Turn off heat.
Grease dish for steaming (mine is a 22cm diameter, 6cm depth round dish). Transfer the turnip batter into the pan, flatten it into same height. Steam the turnip cake over high heat for 40 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
To serve
1) Cut out your preferred size and serve hot.
2) Let cool, chill it in fridge, invert from dish, then cut into about 1cm thick slices and pan fry (chilling makes the cake firmer and thus pan frying easier). Usually, I serve the pan-fried turnip cake slices with chili sauce.
3) Or, it can simply be reheated by steaming after retrieved from fridge.
Enjoy!
- Category: Rice and Grain . Vegetable .
- 36 comments
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Wow the cakes look beautiful and delicious! No wonder why they are so popular during Chinese New Year’s!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! I for one love turnip cakes and since I’m Chinese, I should give this a try! BTW, your cake looks wonderful!
Happy baking!
LeeYong
Steamed is good sometimes but I prefer pan fried on most occasions.
Ooooh….my favourite. Yours look very delicious here with so many good ingredients there. I can’t get dried scallops here so have to omit. It’s quite a long time I have not made this. Have to start again soon. You have just started my craving!
Looks great! And I can imagine it with some hot sauce…….hmmmmm!
This is one of my favourite dim sum dishes….amazed that you make it at home, and make it look so plausible. Love the step-by-step pics and instructions
They look amazing. I never knew how to make them. I like the idea that they can store in the fridge for so long =)
Wow, your pictures of Law Bak Gou 蘿蔔糕 are gorgeous.
Love to cook some whenever I crave for it, dipping with some chili sauce, that makes me eat a lot. Delicious!.
I cannot believe how beautiful your turnip cake is! not only does it look good, but I can tell that they are absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for sharing. I am most definitely going to try this dish. Would you mind describe Chinese sausage to me? I am sure I can find it at the local asian market, but I want to make sure I get the right kind. Thank you!
Oh! My mom always makes this turnip cake…but she does not add all the goodies that you have in it like sausage, scallop and mushrooms. I love the slightly crispy layer of the cake when you pan fried it…so delicious…I must surprise my mom and make my own
That is a perfect turnip cake! Recipe bookmarked.! Thanks
Thanks for sharing!!
I am actually thinking of making one to give it a try but going to skip the steaming (step 6 above) phase and make it like a pan-fried turnip cake right from the mixture … I wonder if it would work out alright … ummm
Hi,
I am reading your comments from Penang right now. Because of limited internet access, excuse me for not answering you one by one but I must say thank you all for sharing your thoughts and all the kind words.
By the way, Happy Chinese Valentine’s Day!
@Patty, Let me check if I’ve got a photo on Chinese sausage and hopefully get back to you when i’m in H.K. on March 2 : ).
YUMMMMMYYYYYY oh man I loooove turnip cake!!!!! I love that you put chinese sausages in them because I think those are the best kinds — I always get disappointed when restaurants get cheap and dont add it in. Great recipe, I will definitely try it sometime, thanks for sharing!
Wow! Your turnip cake look exceptional beautiful. I prefer plain one and usually eat with a lot pan-fried minced garlic.
Occasionally I just add some dried shrimps to the turnip cake.
Will try out this recipe but will omit sausage and scallop. Thanks.
@Patty, I have just put up a separate post on Chinese sausage at http://www.tastehongkong.com/ingredients/chinese-preserved-sausage/. Hope it comes in time.
Love radish cake!! Glad to have found your blog!
This is a favorite in this house. Thank you so much for the step by step photos. I think I can make this at home already.
@Divina, Thanks. This indeed is a dish good for sharing.
[...] Turnip or Radish Cake with Chinese Sausages | Blog about Recipes … [...]
I would like to learn make the Radish Cake from this recipe, this is my first make the Radish Cake and special for my mother-in law, I hope she like it.
@Ga Ga Tse,
If this is your first making a turnip cake, let me emphasize that it is important to drain the shredded turnips in a colander and collect their juice. With the juice (and also the water from soaking dried scallops) mixed into the flours, you will make a delicious cake.
It is usual that the flour mixture will get thicken with the turnips as you cook them in wok, Keep stirring until they together thickened like a very sticky dough. The process toward the end does require some arm effort.
Good luck and enjoy!
my husband and i love radish cake! so excited that i can make my own! and i have some wonderful fresh turnips too!
I love turnip cakes! I’m glad to have found your blog! I guess I need to make a trip to China town to get some of the ingredients!
@PrettyWahine,
Glad to have you visiting. Good luck shopping.
There is only one thing better than shopping in Hong Kong, and that’s eating. From small noodle joints to upscale French restaurant, you will locate all sorts of restaurant, eating hall and snack stall on earth in Hong Kong. Here I found small amount of Hong-Kong-styled snacks online (yummiexpress.freetzi.com). This is definitely a good choice before I have $ for another trip.
[...] Pan-Fried Radish Cake (Lor Bak Gou) (adapted from Taste Hongkong) [...]
Hi, Glad to have found your blog through Mary Moh’s.
Your Lor Bak Gou looks so inviting and delicious. Beautiful photos. Makes me want to try out this Lor Bak Gou recipe though I have made yam cake before. Thanks for giving such detailed and easy instructions to follow.
@Happyfeetmama,
Thanks for your advice and kind words. Yes, I have enjoyed reading Mary’s homey, hearty recipes.
Hope to hear from you again.
Just made this and the whole family loved it!
Tastes just like the ones served in dim sum restaurants. Will be putting in more chinese sausages in next time though and perhaps some spring onions to make it look pretty.
Every now and again though I got a bitter taste, I’m guessing it’s not quite the season for the turnips and mother said there was 1 large turnip which may have been the culprit due to its age therefore bitter in taste…must pick the young looking turnips next time
Thank You for posting this wonderful recipe!
@ktuk85,
Great to know your whole family loved this turnip cake!
You are right, turnips are quite seasonal though they are available most of the time. When they are in season here, during cooler months, I like to pick those that are heavy for their sizes, indicating that they are more likely to be sweeter and juicier.
Have fun and enjoy!
I finally made this Lor Bak Gou last week and it tasted wonderful. The ingredients in this recipe is just right. My friends and colleagues love it and of course there was not enough to go round. Thanks you.
@Happyfeetmama,
Thanks for writing again! So glad to learn that you and your friends had both enjoyed this . Turnips are juicy and sweet these months (usually before weather turns hot), meaning there are still months good for making our Lor Bak Gou.
I made it for the first time last week and it is delicious!!! i love your page. i can’t wait to try the other recipes.
@Shirley,
Hope you would enjoy other recipes as much as this, thanks for your feedback!
i love your Chinese creations! Thanks for blogging!