How to make chinese radish cake or turnip cake (lor bak gou)

I don’t know if I’m getting older or what, but am a lot more interested in making traditional chinese dishes nowadays. I hope Liam will grow up knowing and liking food from my part of his heritage.

I love radish cakes or turnip cakes or lor bak gou , especially the fried ones. I always order the dish whenever I eat at dimsum restaurants.

However, I’ve never made one, I don’t really know why. Maybe cause it’s easy to buy them?

Till I found this recipe from Mummy Tong, a Dayrean I follow. After reading her post, I was determined to make it.

I took some liberties with the amount of salt and also omitted one ingredient as I couldn’t find it. Also, this recipe is enough for TWO 8″ x 8″ tins. That’s too much for two people but it didn’t occur to me till much later lol.

Ingredients

(A)

2 pieces or 100 gms Lap yok or Chinese bacon of long chinese waxed sausages (lapcheong), soaked in hot water and diced

100 gm of lapyok or Chinese bacon (I didn’t use this as I couldn’t find it), diced

30 gm of dried prawns, washed and drained

5 small onions, diced

A handful of spring onions, chopped

About 1 kilo of radish, peeled and grated

(B)

400 gm or rice flour

2 tbsp of cornstarch

600 ml of water

(C)

2 tsp of salt (original recipe only called for 1 tsp)

1/2 tsp of white pepper powder

1 tsp of white fine sugar

1 tbsp of sesame oil

700 ml of water

(D) For garnish

Chopped spring onions

Fried shallots

#1 – Prepare ingredients (A).

#2 – Still preparing ingredients (A), this is the grated radish.

#3 – Prepare ingredients (B).

#4 – Prepare ingredients (C).

#5 – Fry the onions, dried prawns and chinese sausages in a dash of oil till fragrant.

#6 – Add the grated radish and cook it down for a couple of minutes.

#7 – Now add (C) to the mixture and stir.

#8 – Followed by (B). Stir well.

#9 – On low heat, keep on stirring till the mixture become sticky and lumpy. This process is quite fast.

#10 – Now add the chopped spring onions and mix in.

#11 – Scoop mixture into an oiled tin and cover with aluminium foil. Steam on medium heat for 45 minutes.

#12 – Chinese radish cakes, DONE! Sprinkle with (D).

#13 – Nice eaten steamed (dang good with a dollop of sriracha) but you can cut them out into cubes and fry them up with some chinese salted vegetable (choi bou) and bean sprouts too, which is what I am going to do for lunch today :D

By the way, buy this radish…not the tiny red ones ya. Grate till you die hah!

Thank you Mummy Tong for such a delicious recipe!