Dim sum isn't complete without turnip cake! Lo Bak Go is a Chinese turnip cake made from daikon radish and rice flour. These little cakes are steamed and then pan fried to perfection.
I used to watch my mom make these when I was growing up and we would always order them when going out for dim sum. It's definitely one of my favorite dim sum dishes and after vegan it was so hard to find vegan. Most times there's dried shrimp and Chinese sausage cut up into little cubes. I've been on a dim sum kick lately so I decided to take a stab my mom's recipe. I couldn't believe how easy it was and how delicious it turned out!
You'll need a couple items to make this dish one is a square or rectangular pan. I used a 7" x 7" square metal baking dish. You can use a glass dish or my mom use to always use a bread pan. This pan will also need to go into a steamer so choose your dish accordingly. You'll also need to shred the daikon radish we used a food processor but you can also use a cheese grater. You'll want to use the larger holes and shred long ways to make long pieces. As we mentioned you'll need to steam them so you can use an instant pot, large pan with steam rack with lid or a bamboo steamer.
This recipe yields a lot so you can save some by freezing it or if you're like us you can eat them with every meal for 2 days (no joke, I was addicted, they're that good!)
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups Rice Flour
- 3 cups Water
- 1/2 cup Black Chinese Mushrooms from dried (finely chopped into tiny squares)
- 1 cup Mushroom Water from soaking the dried mushrooms
- 2 1/2 lbs Daikon Radish (shredded)
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- Oil (about 2 Tbs)
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Soak mushrooms in hot water (I soaked overnight but not necessary at least a couple hours)
- Chop mushrooms into tiny squares
- Shred the daikon using food processor or cheese shredder, large long pieces
- In mixing bowl add rice flour and slowly pour in the water while mixing until a smooth liquid and set aside
- In a large pan/wok on medium heat add mushrooms and a little bit of the mushroom water
- Cook about 5 min
- Add the daikon and the rest of mushroom water, mix well
- Cover and cook for 5 min, stir and then cover and cook another 10 min
- Add salt and pepper, mix well and turn heat off
- Slowly add the rice mixture while stirring until all mixture is added
- Once the mixture starts to thicken add to oiled pan
- Smooth top and add to steamer, steam for 40 min
- Use toothpick to make sure it has cooked
- Use spatula to loosen edges
- Lay parchment paper on cutting board
- Turn pan upside down to remove from dish
- Cut into square sized pieces
- In large pan add oil and fry turnip cakes until your preferred crispiness on both sizes
- We also air fried them at 350°F for 10 min each side. Coat with oil and lay flat without them touching.
- Serve with your favorite sauce/toppings. We used garlic sriracha, tamari and chopped green onion.
