Did I ever happen to mention the Missus’s obsessions? It really doesn’t take much…just a simple mention of an item, and a fast growing seed is planted. It’s something that demands immediate attention…if left alone to germinate, well, let’s not go there.
This past Saturday, we had a wonderful lunch at Chin’s with Ed from Yuma, mizducky, Howie from A Foodie’s Eye View, and last but certainly not least Codergirl. In the midst of the lunch Howie happened to mention that a friend of his makes Turnip Cakes at home. Now at the mention of this little comment, I saw the Missus perk up, and though I don’t think anyone else noticed it, with just the little "they make it at home…" I knew we’d be making turnip cakes.
And so it’s off to 99 Ranch Market we go……
We’ve always had pretty good outcomes with recipes from Ellen Leong Blonder’s book Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch
Turnip Cakes
2-3 Tb Small Dried Shrimp(optional – also soaking them in hot water for 20-30 minutes and draining is optional, we didn’t do this)
2 1/2 – 3 cups(lightly packed) Coarsely shredded Daikon Radish
1 Lup Cheong(Chinese sausage) finely diced
2 Green Onions (include white parts) finely sliced
1-2 Tb Cilantro – finely chopped
2 Cups Rice Flour (* Important note – use rice flour, do not use sweet/glutinous rice flour)
1 Tsp salt(adjust up if not using shrimp)
1/2 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Tsp Ground White Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Water
Vegetable/Canola Oil
1 – Place shredded radish in a small pot or saucepan with water. Bring mixture to a boil, than reduce the heat to a low and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Remove radish from liquid(do not discard the cooking liquid) and place in measuring cup. Add in cooking liquid to bring the amount to approximately 3 cups. Let the mixture cool to a lukewarm temperature.
2 – While radish is cooking, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet or wok. When oil starts to smoke add the Lup Cheong,Green Onions, and Dried Shrimp. Stir fry for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove the mixture from heat and stir in Cilantro.
3 – Get the steamer going.
4 – In a bowl mix the rice flour, salt, sugar, and white pepper. Add the radish and cooking water, and stir to a batter-like consistency. Add the Lup Cheong mixture to the batter and mix. Pour mixture into a 8×8 cake pan, or a 9 inch round cake pan.
5 – Place cake pan into steamer, and steam at a medium-high boil for 35-45 minutes.
6 – Once done, remove the turnip cake from the steamer and let cool.
Once cool, you can cut into squares and fry, or fry, than add egg, or whatever preparation you 
desire.
I fried up a few squares, and the Missus told me, "you know what this means, don’t you?" "Wellll, I guess no more store bought, and we’ll cross this off our Dim Sum list, ala’ Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf?"
Thanks alot Howie…just kidding of course. Turnip cake turned out to be much easier than we thought.
I’ve had a few Emails asking if I still cook, and yes I am, but recently it’s been really simple things like Soboro, and other stir fries, but I thought this would be of some interest. I’ll be back with another restaurant tomorrow.
I expected that recipe to be much more difficult. Now I really need to buy rice flour… mmm.
However, I’m still confused about the English name. Shouldn’t it be Radish Cake, or Daikon Cake?
Hi JosephE – I think in Chinese the Daikon is called something like White Turnip(lo bak), as far as I know, it’s always been called Turnip Cake. We also thought it would be much harder to make.
Talk about yummy, I wonder if there such thing as brown rice flour…
Lovely to meet your Missus at last, Kirk! And many thanks for the turnip cake tutorial–I enjoy that stuff lots, and might have a go at making some myself now that you’ve shown us how.
Joseph E already beat me with the question I was going to ask about why it’s called turnip cake. I guess it’s like lobster sauce which has no lobster and fish flavored eggplant which has no fish flavor. I get soooo confused.
And it was nice to share a good meal at Chin’s with nice folks.
nhbilly–Bob’s Red Mill makes a brown rice flour, but I doubt it’s fine enough to make turnip cake. You might try whizzing it in a food processor and then sifting through a fine sieve, if you’re determned. HTH
This is a keeper. I’m bookmarking this one and will make it someday. Awesome!
Mmm. That looks good! And now you’ve got me craving dimsum.
I should never read your blog when I’m hungry.
And a seed was planted in the panda’s fertile little mind…
– Chubbypanda
Hi Billy – Don’t tell me you’re getting all “healthy” on us now, are you?
Hi Mizducky – Surprisingly easy to make, and tastes better than what you get at most places.
Hi Ed – We really enjoyed ourselves as well.
Hi Amy – Thanks for the info!
Hi Elmo – It’s a fairly simple recipe…but those are the only kind I make.
Hi WC – Thanks, I’ve been enjoying your blog(though not when I’m hungry) as well.
Hi CP – Hmmm, a turnip seed????
Ahh… those look just perfect! I’m glad I could plant the seeds of obsession 🙂
I had a great time at lunch the other day. I can’t wait to get a whole bowl of the spicy pork noodle soup to myself.
Hi Howie – Yep, you planted that fast growing seed. BTW, if we didn’t know you had a sister, we’d have bet you were a “classic only child” with that “a whole bowl of the spicy pork noodle soup to myself” statement! LOL!
Thank you for posting this recipe. I love turnip cake–it’s the must have when I go to dimsum. I’ve bought some that you can fry at home but it’s just not the same. Can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks!
Hi 26 Chickys – It was much easier than we thought it would be. And tasted much, much better than the store bought stuff.
gosh i adore turnip cakes, or loah bak goh (my own made up spelling!)!! my dad makes this stuff too but i think he makes it up as he goes and never gets it right! thanks so much for the recipe!!
Hi Annie – It’s pretty easy, try it out and let me know how it turns out…homemade tastes really good.
I’ve missed you so much Kirk! The turnip cake looks absolutely to-die-for (with all of those crispy brown patches on the surface)! You know that I love the posts where you and the Missus cook!
I’ve actually made turnip cake quite a few times with my mom, and she usually adds one or two reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms (that are finely minced) and will also soak the shrimps (as you mentioned), but she’ll use the “shrimp soaking liquid” to cook the daikon. However, from the looks of it, it doesn’t seem like you need any tips with making turnip cake at all! (Looks great!)
Also, I love what the Missus said–that you are going to be saving money by cooking in more! Once the Missus makes this one more time, she’ll probably add some personal touches that will really add to the flavor and quality of the dish.
Hi PE – He-he-he, the Missus didn’t want to wait for me to soak and hydrate mushroom(also why I didn’t soak the shrimp)….
Hi Kirk,
I just recently discovered your blog and love the recipes you have posted. I tried the turnip cake today with split success. Mine turned out good, looking somewhat like yours, BUT it was a bit on the dry side. It’s not as moist and soft as the turnip cake I have had before.
Could you help me trouble shoot? My raw batter/cooked turnip cake is about 1/2 inch (was yours about the same thickness). Although I followed the directions thoroughly, do you think the dryness is due to over steaming of the turnip cake or too much rice flour? Thanks.
Hi Wakkun – Perhaps cutting back on the rice flour by 1/4 cup may help you. The turnip cakes I make are about 1/2-3/4″ thick. I hope this helps.
Thank you for your recipe. It turned out great! I added in some Chinese mushrooms and bacon instead of lap cheong.
Hi Irene – I’m very that our recipe turned out well for you. Thanks so much for taking the time to let us know!
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I think I will make it some time soon; one thing though- do you think parsley would work instead of cilantro? I just happen to be out of the latter… do you think maybe it wouldn’t make a big difference?
Hi Siyi – The cilantro is really just a garnish, so you can replace with scallions.
hello,you articles are so cool,i really like it very much.I am also a chinese food amateur and have collected many chinese food recipes with many pictures too.If you like it,please feel free to contact me,’cause I wanna make friend with you:)
Copy-pasted to my ToDo list!
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Selene – Please let me know how it turns out!
Do you think regular turnips would work in this dish? I have some that need to be used up and I would love to make this.
Hi Debra – I’ve never tried to make this with regular turnips, but I’m pretty sure you can. The flavor may be a bit different. If you do decide to try that out, I’d be interested in knowing how things turn out.
I am in the process of making your yummy recipie….I have a question. At the end of the ingredients it says 1 in a half cup water after that the next line says vegetable oil/ canola oil.
My question is how much oil do I put in and do I put both kinds or just one?
Please let me know as soon as you can =)
Thank You Juliet Kjerulff
Hi Juliet – The oil is for frying the turnip cakes, after the turnip cakes are cool. So you can use as much, or as little as you deem necessary. I’m guessing you can also do in a non-stick pan, but I don’t think the crust will develop. I hope that helps. Good luck!
Hi, can you freeze this cake? or can you make half of the recipe? would it work?
Hi Carol – I think freezing will be ok, since I’ve seen the stuff frozen in various markets. I’ve never made half a recipe since it wasn’t a huge portion in the first place, but I don’t see any problems with that either. You will have to make adjustments in cooking time though.
aloha kirk…have you ever attempted to make har gow? i’m having problems getting my hands on WHEAT STARCH (even in chinatown), which is the key ingredient in making the translucent wrappers.
Hi Ahfook – No, I haven’t tried making Har Gow. I’m surprised you can’t find that in Chinatown….too bad you don’t have a Vietnamese Market nearby, they always stock that.
Hmmm Yummy Recipe. This turnip Cake is new for me. Thanks for posting. I will try it later.
I have been using your recipe since you published it. Thank you!
Thanks so much for letting me know Chie! You made my day.