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three pieces of fried turnip cake on a white plate

Turnip Cake, Nut Free Dim Sum Recipe

Turnip Cake is a steamed rice cake made with Chinese turnips, and flavored with minced Chinese sausages and/or dried shrimp and then pan-fried until crispy before serving for dim sum. Even though the total recipe time is nearly 9 hours, it takes about 4 hours to make the turnip cake, cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight. Pan-frying takes about another 30 minutes.

Course Breakfast, brunch, lunch, Snack
Cuisine Chinese
Keyword chinese new year jai, daikon cake, dim sum, turnip cake
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cool & Refrigerate (overnight is recommended) 6 hours
Total Time 9 hours
Servings 10
Author Sharon Wong @ Nut Free Wok

Ingredients

Daikon Mixture

  • 2 daikons (medium) 1 1/2 inch diameters
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

Sausages & Herbs

  • 2 Chinese sausages "lap cheong" (optional or substitute bacon)
  • 1/2 teaspoon olive oil or neutral oil
  • 1/4 cup carrots, diced optional
  • 2 tablespoons dried shrimp optional
  • 2 stalks scalliions chopped (optional)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro chopped (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar optional

Rice Batter

  • 3 1/2 cups rice flour 1 pound bag
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • Oil as needed

Instructions

  1. Brush some oil on a 2 quart casserole that will fit inside a large stock pot (8 quarts or larger), set aside. Fill a large stock pot (8 quarts or larger) with 1 1/2 inches of water with a steamer rack and set on low heat until ready to steam.

Daikon

  1. Peel the daikons, hold them at the top and grate the bottom end into a bowl or a fine colander. Stop when the daikon starts to feels tough, dice the remaining daikon that is easy to cut.

  2. Salt with 1/2 teaspoon salt and set aside for 30 minutes.

  3. Squeeze some of the daikon liquid out and place in a medium sized pot (4 quarts). Add the broth to the pot, add a lid, and cook on medium heat. When the pot boils, lower the heat, and then simmer on low for 30-40 minutes, until the liquid is reduced and the daikon is tender.

Mix In

  1. While the daikon cooks, cut the Chinese lengthwise into quarters and dice, chop green onions, cilantro and carrots; rinse and soak dried shrimp in a tiny amount of water for 10 minutes and then coarsely chop.

  2. IF USING Chinese sausage or bacon, then render fat in a small frying pan on low heat, and when the sausage/bacon starts to sizzle, stir fry in the chopped carrots or dried shrimp for a few minutes.
  3. IF NOT USING Chinese sausages or bacon, then stir fry the desired mix-in ingredients (carrots, shrimp) in 1/2 teaspoon of oil for a few minutes.

  4. Season the mix in ingredients with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 1/4 teaspoon sugar, remove from heat and set aside.

Rice Batter

  1. Add rice flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl and stir in 2 cups of cold water until the batter is smooth and not lumpy.

Steam the Turnip Cake

  1. Check the water level of the stock pot and raise the temperature to medium high so that the water is bubbly and boiling.

  2. Increase the heat of the daikon and broth to a rolling boil, remove from heat and immediately pour in the rice flour batter and stir quickly.

  3. Add the mix-in ingredients and stir (the mixture should resemble mashed potatoes if 1) the daikon is boiling hot and 2) the broth is reduced)
  4. Transfer the daikon and rice flour mixture to the prepared casserole and steam for 60 minutes on medium high heat.

  5. Allow daikon cake to cool to room temperature in its container, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Pan Fry

  1. Preheat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat (4-5 minutes)

  2. Turn the casserole upside down on a cutting board and give a few taps, the daikon cake should slide out. Cut the cake into quarters and cut each quarter into 1/2 inch thick slices.

  3. When a drop of water sizzes on the pan and feels hot, add 1/2 teaspoon of oil and swirl to coat pan. Add the turnip cake slices to the pan.

  4. Pan fry for 10-12 minutes until crispy and slightly browned, flip, and pan fry for another 10-12 minutes.

  5. Garnish with chopped onion or chopped cilantro for a pretty presentation (optional) and enjoy!