Turnip Cake Ingredients

Portion for 4 people

Ingredients

• 1/4cup (20g) dried shrimp

• 3tablespoons (30g) chopped shallots

• 1/2cup (65g) chopped Chinese sausage

• 1/4cup (40g) chopped Chinese cured pork

• 1 1/2tbs vegetable oil

• 1 tbs oyster sauce

• 1/4 tsp table salt

Turnip: 

• 2 1/2pounds Turnip (Radish)

• 1 1/2tablespoons vegetable
• 4 to 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 1/2cups (355ml) water

• 2 small pieces (15g) rock sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/2teaspoon chicken bouillon powder(optional)
• 1/4teaspoon garlic powder

Batter

• 1cup (115g) rice flour
• 1scant cup (115g) cornstarch
• 1cup (255ml) water

Equipment

• 9” round cake pan
• oil for greasing pan
• 1 steaming rack
• 14-inch wok with lid

Method

Step 1:Soak the dried shrimp in water overnight. Drain the water. Roughly chop the dried shrimp.

Step 2:Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the dried shrimp, sausage, and cured pork and cook for a minute. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon salt and oyster sauce. Turn off the heat and transfer everything to a bowl. 

Step 3: Peel the turnip(radish) and slice off the top. Grate the daikon into a 9×13 pan or a bowl. Ensure that you save all the turnip juices that release as you are grating the turnips. Alternatively, grate the daikon using a food processor. 

Step 4: Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a wok/deep sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic to the wok and sauté for about a minute, until fragrant. Transfer the grated turnip and its juice into the wok. Add 1 1/2 cups of water, the rock sugar, salt, white pepper, chicken powder, and garlic powder. Make sure to place the rock sugar into the water to ensure that it dissolves properly. Cover the wok with a lid and cook on high heat for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 5: While the turnip is cooking, make the batter. Whisk the rice flour and cornstarch in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of water and stir. The batter might be stiff at the beginning, keep stirring until the batter is smooth. 

Step 6: Uncover the wok and reduce the heat to low.. Add the flavouring bits and stir to combine. Then, add the batter to the turnip and stir until batter is no longer runny. The batter should thicken in a minute or two. Turn off the heat.

Step 7: Lightly grease the cake pan with oil. Transfer all the ingredients from the wok to the cake pan. Use a flexible spatula to smooth out the top of the turnip cake.

Step 8: Place a steaming rack in the center of the wok and fill it with enough water so that the water level is just below the top of the steaming rack. Bring the water to boil.

Step 9: Carefully place the turnip cake on top of the steaming rack. Cover the wok and cook on medium-high for 40 minutes.

Step 10:Turn off the heat. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack. Then, let the cake cool for 10 minutes.

Step 11: Pan fry the cake, slice the cake into small squares or rectangles. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add the turnip cake pieces and pan-fry each side for about 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Serve the turnip cake with Lao Gan Ma chili crisp or Lee Kum Kee sweet soy sauce.