Chinese Radish Cake

I was craving for Steam Yam Cake and has planned to make it today.  Unfortunately, when I went to the fresh market this morning, I can't find any yam and a bit disappointed.  So, I decided to change my plan.  I go for Radish Cake instead, another type of cake that is very popular among the Chinese community.

The wonderful part of this steamed radish cake is, you may not only choose to eat just straight away with some garnishing of chopped spring onion, fried crispy shallot and dried shrimps on top, you even can choose to cut it into into slices and pan-fry it before you dip it with some sources....yummy! 

If you wish to challenge yourself further, there is another way that's very popular in Malaysia - stir fry it.  Cut the steamed radish cake in about 1 cm cubes and stir fried with chopped garlic, dried shrimps, beat in an egg and some soy sauce and fried until its turn brown and fragrant.  For those who love it with some spicy taste, you may even add in some chili paste to fry together.  What about adding some bean sprout in it?  Good isn't it? This will be a perfect savory snack that goes well with a cup of tea.  So, lets find out the basic steps in how to steam the radish cake before you venture to next step of alternative way of eating.

INGREDIENTS

(A)

600 gm radish, grated

300 gm rice flour

600 ml water

Some salt to taste

(B)

150 ml water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp ground white pepper

50 gm dried shrimps, soaked and chopped

6 shallots, sliced thinly

Garnishing

Some spring onion, chopped

Fried dried shrimps

Fried shallot

Red chili, cut into tiny strips

DIRECTIONS

1.  Boil the grated radish in a saucepan with water for about 5 minutes.  Drain.

2.  Place the boiled radish in a saucepan, add in all ingredients in (B) and simmer over low
     heat until the radish turns soft and almost all the liquid has dried.  This will take about 20
     - 30 minutes.

3.   Mix the rice flour, salt and water to form into a batter.

4.   Fry the sliced shallots until crispy, once done, set aside.  Follow by frying the dried
       shrimps using the left over oil, fried until fragrant.

5.   Combine the batter, half of the crispy shallot and dried shrimps in the radish mixture,
      then cook over with low heat until it turns into thick or sticky paste.

6.  Pour the mixture into a greased square cake tin, make the surface smooth and steam
     over for about an hour or until cooked.

7.  Once cooked, leave it to cold thoroughly before cutting into slices or cubes.