Turnip Cake / Carrot Cake - Cantonese / HK style & Singapore Style 蘿蔔糕 /萝卜糕 / 菜头粿

No turnips or carrots were hurt in this recipe. This is neither a turnip cake, nor a carrot cake, despite the badly translated name. These are different presentations of essentially the same radish... dish. The origins of this mostly vegetarian dish is surprisingly violent. 

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Lor Bak Go (蘿蔔糕 /萝卜糕)  / Chai Taw Kway / Cai Tau Kueh (菜頭粿 / 菜头粿) is a dish popular in BOTH Hong Kong as well as Singapore (and the rest of the SE Asian diaspora where Southern Chinese reside). The dish is a variation of "Nian Gao (年糕)" a type of glutinous rice "cake" that is popular during Chinese New Year celebrations, and eaten throughout East Asia. The word "gao 糕" sounds like "gao 高“, and so the name of the dish "year high" sounds lucky, like many other Chinese New Year dishes. In Hokkien, the name sounds similar to a saying for "good luck/fortune" - 好彩头頭 

"Nian Gao" has a very legendary orgin story. It was during the Spring and Autumn period (771 to 476 BCE) in China, about 2500 years ago when Wu Zixu (伍子胥), a court official, built a high defensive city wall for his Emperor (in modern day Suzhou). The Emperor was lulled by the sense of security his high walls offered him, and neglected in training soldiers despite Wu Zixu's warning that walls only defend, but strong troops are required to break a seige. 

Wu then told the people that when the city was besieged, and people were starving, that they should go to the city gate, and dig down 3 feet for emergency rations. Many years later, when this came to pass, the people followed his instructions, and found that the bricks were made of glutinous rice. The people were able to eat that rice, and survive the siege. This is the orgin of China's "saving for a rainy day" idiom, 積糧防急, and our ancestors continued eating glutinous rice cakes in memory of Wu Zixu (kinda like Zongji and Qu Yuan during Dragon Boat Festival 端午节).  [Find a picture of rice brick]

There's some archaeological evidence that the Ancient Chinese actually used glutinous rice as bricks, as well as mortar.  In 1979, a Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 CE) 北宋 tomb was excavated in Shanghai, which was made of cooked glutinous rice bricks (mixed with quicklime and wrapped in mulberry paper)[上海嘉定宋赵铸夫妇墓] / [32]. These bricks were then set in place before they hardened, and would form a solid and seamless wall, much like cement. A Three Kingdom 三国 (220–280 CE) era tomb of Zhu Ran is also supposed to contain a cooking utensil made with glutenous rice. [Picture needed]

Today, in the Modern era, there are many variations of Nian Gao, which can be found all over East Asia. Supposedly, during the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, food was scarce, and during the winter, white radish  / daikon (白蘿蔔/白萝卜) were cut, shredded, and boiled, then mixed into rice flour to make a type of steamed "cake", then this was served pan-fried. Some say that this came about because Japanese soldiers were nick-named "radish heads / 蘿蔔頭".

 

The confusion with the name (particularly in Singapore) comes thus - The white radish / daikon was previously not familiar to the western world, and the name in chinese "bai + luobo" 白蘿蔔/白萝卜 translates to white +luobuo. The word for CARROT is "hu + lubuo" (胡萝卜). The word "hu /胡" is a generic word meaning foreign, so to a Chinese, a carrot is a "foreign" radish, but whoever was translating this dish way back when, mistranslated it mean "carrot cake". So Singapore is now filled with lots of places selling "carrot cake", confusing many western tourists. 

My favorite Carrot cake stall in Singapore

The origin of the carrot cake in Singapore was from fried rice cakes, or fried nian gao, called Char Kueh. These were often flavored by being fried with a dark sweet soy sauce. Eventually, radish was added to the rice cakes, eggs and cai bo used to flavor the dish. In the Chaoshan area of China, the dish is called Fried Gaoguo (炒糕粿), and doesn't have cai bo. In Malaysia, this is called 炒粿角 Char Koay Kak, another variant of fried rice cake. 

Similarly, in Hong Kong, early English speakers who encountered this fantastic dim sum staple made a slightly better translation, using the term Turnip instead. The "carrot" confusion was avoided as the word for carrot in Cantonese is "hong lor bak (紅蘿蔔 ) or "red" + lorbak (there are also green radishes)

    

Chinese Radish

RECIPE INTRODUCTION

The Cantonese style "Lor Bak Go" uses classical Cantonese cooking aromatic ingredients in creating the cooked cake, then slices are cut out and simply pan-fried again, or it is steamed and served. 

Hong Kong Dimsum staple - Fried Turnip Cake

The pan-fried cake needs to have a crisp exterior, but a soft and fluffy interior. The steamed version should be almost soft and fluffy, with a rich flavor from a well balanced use of aromatics. 

The Singaporean style "Cai Tao Kuay" uses a plain "turnip cake", made with just white radish and rice flour, which is then pan-fried until crispy on the outside, then mixed with fried "cai bo", a type of preserved radish (Ask for 菜脯 / 甜菜脯 at your Asian store, or get this from Amazon), eggs, and sometimes a "dark sweet" soy sauce (like kecap manis) or Chili sauce. 

My recipe makes the best of both recipes, using a Cantonese style "Lor Bak Go" and frying it Singaporean style. 

In the spirit of the dish, I will try to use inexpensive and tasty ingredients. I also prefer to have a higher percentage of white radish to rice flour, for a higher fiber and lower glycemic dish. This can be made vegetarian or even vegan if one wishes. 

There are THREE "cooking" sections. Cooking 1 is to create the block of radish cake, it can be served as is, or chilled and fried later. Cooking 2A is to pan-fry it and serve it HK style. Cooking 2B is to cook it Singapore style. 

As always, the quantities written below, and many of the ingredients should just be taken as guidelines. The only essential ingredients are the radish / water / rice powder / salt. The ratio of 100:40:20 is also a guideline, more rice powder makes a more solid "cake", less makes it lighter. One of the pleasures of making this dish at home, is that you can control how you want the dish. 

The aromatics are traditionally diced, but I like making a version where put everything in a food processor and get smaller pieces, leaving a more well distributed flavor, but without the traditional mouth feel of biting into chunks of mushroom / sausage. 

INGREDIENTS*
RADISH CAKE			RATIO
Radish 白蘿蔔｜白萝卜 (peeled)	1000	g	100
Water	400	g	40
Rice Powder	200	g	20
Chicken Powder*	23	g	170mg of Sodium per 1g
or Salt	10	g	Equivilent of 1% salinity
AROMATICS (OPTIONAL)
Dried Shiitake Mushroom	40	g	1½ oz, 7 dried mushrooms	Soaked
Dried (Tiny) Shrimp 虾米	10	g	1½ oz	Soaked
Dried Scallop Conpoy 乾貝 / 干贝	10	g	½ oz	Soaked
Chinese Sausage Laap Cheung 腊肠 / 腊肠	1		sausages (40g)	Diced
Cured Pork Belly Lap Yuk 臘肉 / 腊肉	55	g	2 oz	Diced
Soy Sauce	8	ml	½ table spoon
Palm or Brown Sugar	4	g	1 teaspoon
Shaoxing Wine / Mei Kui Lu Jiu (Rose Liquor)	5	ml	1 teaspoon

White Pepper                                                   1 g  ½ teaspoon

EQUIPMENT

Grater / Shredder 

Wok or Large Frying Pan

Baking dish (at least 6 cm / 2 inch) that fits into your steaming vessel 

Large pot to steam things. 

*Note on Ingredients. 

Radish 白蘿蔔｜白萝卜- Pick ones that are fat and feel heavy for their weight. The need to be peeled before shredding. 

Water - Some aromatics need to be soaked, and you will also use that soaking water into your dish, for extra flavor. Sub with sodium free chicken stock, konbu stock etc.

Rice Powder - Do NOT use glutinous rice flour, or your cake will turn to a gummy mess. Wu Zixu won't mind. Use MORE rice powder for a more solid cake with a better "bite", LESS rice powder for a lighter cake. 

Chicken Powder - Use mushroom powder for a vegetarian dish. 

Aromatics - Feel free to use LESS aromatics than what we have written, and let the natural fragrance of the turnip really take a front seat in this dish. 

Dried Mushrooms  - This will increase the umami, but will decrease the shelf life. 

Dried Meats / Shrimp / Scallop - It's OK to omit these if you want a vegetarian dish, or substitute a different type of fatty sausage to make it a different style. I'll use chorizo next time. The seafood ingredients bring the essence of the sea to your dish without any "fishyness", and adds to the complexity of the flavor, without being obvious. 

Shaoxing Wine - Sub with a bit of sherry or brandy

Mei Kui Lu Jiu (Rose Liquor) - This is a special Chinese liquor made with roses. Like the dried seafood, it adds a little je ne sais quoi. Use this sparingly if this is your first time.

PREP WORK

1) THE NIGHT BEFORE (or a few hours before), rinse the aromatics that need soaking, then soak in hot water. Refrigerate if overnight. 

2) Remove the head from your white radish, and peel it. Shred it with your grater. Do half finely, and the other half roughly. The finely shredded pieces will help bind everything together, and the bigger pieces will give it strength. Sprinkle the chicken powder / salt on the shredded radish as you are grating it. This helps the radish shed water, and removes the pungency and bitterness of the radish. Set on a colander to drain until needed. 

3) Squeeze the water from mushrooms, remove the stems, and dice with the seafood. (Or put it in a food processor with the seafood items). The stems can be saved for stock. Save the soaking water for later. 

4) Rinse the preserved meats in hot (boiling) water, then dice. (Or use that food processor). Dump it into a cold frying pan. 

PRE-COOKING

5) Starting with a cold frying pan, over a medium flame, slowly fry the meats to render some of the fat out (5-10min)

6) Throw in the diced / minced mushroom and seafood, stir frying for a minute, then add sugar, soy sauce and liquor to glaze the aromatics. Remove and set aside.

7) Squeeze remaining water from the white radish, discard the water, and fry the white radish in the "used" frying pan. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes until some of the shredded radish turns translucent and the pan is deglazed. 

8) Add in your glazed aromatics and pepper to the white radish, and mix well. 

9) Mix 3/4 of your rice flour with the soaking liquid, adding additional water until it has turned into a thick slurry (use a whisk to make sure all the rice flour has been hydrated)

10) Mix the slurry with the shredded mixture, and pour everything into your well oiled baking pans. Use your reserved rice flour / water to make additional slurry if the shredded radish is still exposed. 

COOKING (1) 

11) Cover your baking pans with aluminium foil and steam them for 45- 90 min (or until a chopstick inserted into the mixture comes out clean. Cooking time depends on the thickness, which should be at least 6 cm / 2 inches deep). 

12) Rest for 20 min, and serve. Garnish with chopped coriander and scallions. 

COOKING (2A) Hong Kong / Cantonese Dim Sum Style

13) After the cake has firmed up in the fridge, cut out thick 2.5cm / 1 inch thick slices and pan fry in a little hot oil, until golden brown and delicious on both sides. Serve with hoisin sauce, XO sauce or a dab of Guilin Chili Sauce

COOKING (2B) Singapore Style

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS
Steamed Radish Cake	250	g	9 oz
Cai Bo 菜脯	40	g	1 ⅓ oz
Minced Garlic	30	g	1 oz (3 cloves)
Eggs	2
Fish Sauce	15	ml	1 tablespoon
Bean Sprouts			Optional
Spring Onions (chopped)			Garnish

In the interest of time, I like to cook this dish on two separate frying pans, using one to crisp up the carrot cake, and the other to brown the garlic and cai bo. 

1) Cut your chilled radish cake into 2.5cm  1 inch cubes. 

2) On a hot frying pan (cast iron skillet preferred), fry the cubes for 1 minute on each side with a little oil (tradition calls for lard, but I prefer a high heat oil like rice bran)

3) Rinse excess salt from your Cai Bo, drain, and dice them (or, you know.... food processor). Larger chunks tend to retain more liquid. 

4) Pound and do a rough chop on with your garlic. 

5) On a separate frying pan, gently fry the garlic and cai bo, until it browns, over a medium flame.

6) When the radish cake cubes are browned on each side, and the cai bo browned, combine the two, and stir fry aggressively, occasionally pressing the radish cake with your spatula to break them. This exposes the softer insides of the cake which should hopefully stick with some of the garlic and cai bo. Add your bean sprouts. 

7) While stir frying, splash your fish sauce to far side of the frying pan, then using frying pan, toss the ingredients into the boiling fish sauce, evenly coating everything. Make sure your exhaust fan is turned on for this stage. 

8) Add your roughly beaten eggs, letting them firm up a little before continuing to stir fry. 

9) Optionally turn down the fire and add your dark sweet soy sauce / kecap manis, and stir fry briefly for a minute to coat everything. (Dark sweet soy turns bitter when burnt)

10) Serve with scallions for garnish.