25gramdried scallop, soaked, drained, shred into thin fibtre, retain liquid
1chinese sausage, remove skin, finely diced
3clovegarlic, peeled and chopped
Batter:
130gramrice flour
30gramtapioca flour
1cupsoaked liquid, or water
Seasonings:
¼tsp salt
½tspsugar
½tspchicken stock granules
½tspground white pepper
Garnishing:
¼cupwhite sesame seeds, toasted
2tbspfried shallots
1red chilli, cut into pieces
1bunch spring onions, diced
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Instructions
Preparing ingredients:
Have ready ingredients needed to make steamed radish cake.
First peel a daikon (white radish). Then divide into two portions. One portion, shred into strings with a julienne peeler. The other portion, hand slice into pieces and then julienne into bigger strips. Then set aside.
Soak the dried shrimps, dried shiitake mushrooms and dried scallop in water until completely hydrated (about 2 hours). Retain the soaking liquid.
Then roughly chop the dried shrimps, finely dice the dried shiitake mushrooms, finely dice the chinese sausage and finely shred the dried scallop into thin fibre.
Lastly, peel and chop garlic. And that's all the prep work needed and we can start cooking.
Cooking the cut radish (daikon):
In a hot wok, add in the radish strips (daikon). Toss around until slightly wilted. Then add in the soaking water. Cover with lid and lower the heat. Simmer and cook for another 10 minutes until nice and soft, stirring occasionally before done.
Remove and drain the softened radish through a sieve and collect all the radish juice from the softened radish in a bowl. Use a spoon to press as much juice out from the cooked radish. From the drained radish juice, measure out 1 cup of juice and leave to cool down a bit. Set aside the drained radish in a bowl. Then prepare the batter.
Preparing Radish Cake Flour Batter:
To make the flour batter, first put rice flour and tapioca starch into a mixing bowl. Then pour in the 1 cup radish juice and using a whisk, mix well till there are no lumps and a smooth batter is formed. Then prepare to cook the steamed radish cake.
Preparing Steamed Radish Cake:
Heat a little oil in wok and saute garlic till fragrant. Then add in the diced chinese sausage and over low heat, fry the sausage till the pork fat is released. Then add in the diced mushrooms, dried shrimp and dried scallop and saute till aromatic.
Next, add in the drained radish and stir fry to get everything evenly distributed. Then add in the seasonings and mix well. And we are ready to pour in the batter.
Turn the heat to low and pour in the flour batter. Stir quickly to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Cook till the mixture turns into a thick paste. Then off the heat.
Lightly oil the bottom and sides of a heatproof steaming tray. Then transfer the radish paste onto the oiled tray. Smoothen the top using a spoon or spatula and make sure there are no gaps on the sides of the tray. And we are ready to steam the radish cake.
Prepare steamer by bringing water in a wok to a boil. Steam the radish cake for 40 to 50 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from steamer and leave to cool on wire rack. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, fried shallots, chopped spring onions and red chillies.
Allow to cool completely before cutting and serve with dipping chilli sauce and hot chinese tea alongside and Enjoy!
Tapioca flour or cornflour is added as it aids in binding the cake together with the aromatic dried ingredients and chinese sausage.
After adding the flour batter, be sure to cook the radish and flour mixture till it starts to form a paste using low heat. This is to ensure an even texture for the radish cake when you steamed it later.
I am using a wok with a rack as a steaming device. Fill about half the wok with water, cover and bring to a boil. Then remove cover and place the radish cake in steaming tray in the middle. Cover and steam over medium high heat. Refill water if necessary. You can also use a bamboo steamer as well.
This radish cake can be eaten steamed or pan-fried and the best part is, you could make them ahead of time and keep well in the fridge for up to a week! If freeze, can be kept even longer.