Lo Bak Go - Savory Chinese Turnip Cakes

Photo: Wokintime

Ingredients

3 pounds Chinese turnip/daikon (about 2 large turnips)

1 pound rice flour (red bag)

1 cup wheat starch

3 pieces of lap chong (diced)

8 chunks dried scallop (soaked in water till soft and shredded) or dried

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon – ½ white pepper (depending on your taste for white pepper)

Cilantro garnish – optional

Hoisin sauce – for dipping

Sriracha sauce – for dipping (optional for a little kick)

Preparation

Shred half of the daikon with a large slotted grater. Finely julienne the other half of the daikon.

Take a 9″ round baking pan and trace the bottom on a piece of parchment paper. Cut the parchment to the shape of the pan and line the bottom of the pan. If you don’t have parchment paper, oil the pan liberally with vegetable or canola oil.

Combine rice flour and wheat starch with 2 cups of water and set aside.

Boil about 1/2 cup of water and add the julienned daikon. Cook for 5 minutes then add the shredded daikon and cook for another 5 minutes or until the daikon is soft. Add the salt, sugar, sesame oil and white pepper. Then add the flour mixture, lap chong and scallops to the pot (reserve about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture to sprinkle on the top). Mix well and transfer to a 9″ round pan.

Press the mixture into the pan and flatten the top with a wooden spoon or spatula. Sprinkle the reserved meat on top and press into the lo bak go. Fill a large steamer with a few inches of water. Place the entire pan into the steamer and cover. Steam for a little over 1 hour. The lo bak go is done when you can poke a chopstick through easily and it comes out clean (no flour mixture).

Set the lo bak go near a window to cool before removing from it the pan. After the lo bak go is cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and turn it upside down onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake and flip it over onto another plate (oil the plate so the lo bak go doesn’t stick).

Refrigerate until firm (at least several hours).

When you’re ready to eat the lo bak go, slice it into squares. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan and pan fry the lo bak go on medium heat until golden brown and crispy. Serve with hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce.