Miles and Myla’s Mom, Jen, will be teaching us how to make one of our favorites, Turnip Cake (Lo Bak Go) to celebrate the Year of the Ox.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups (750g) turnip (daikon, white radish), grated
- 2 cups plus 1 tbs (500g) water
- 2-3 shallots
- 2 tbs dried shrimp
- 5-6 pieces dried shitake mushroom
- 3 pcs Chinese sausage
- 2 tbs cooking oil
- 1 ½ cups plus 3 tbs (270g) turnip cake powder
- 3 tbs (30g) cornstarch
- 2 cups plus 1 tbs (500g) unsalted chicken broth
- 1 tbs oyster sauce
- 1 tbs cooking wine
- ½ tbs salt
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- 3 dash ground white pepper
- ½ tsp sugar
Sauce
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- ½ tbs black bean soy sauce
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- hot chili peppers
Equipment:
- 10”x10” glass or aluminum foil pan
- Parchment paper
- Grater
- Large mixing bowl
- Large saucepan/pot
- Large skillet
- Silicone spatula
- Large steamer for the 10”x10” pan
Instructions:
Day Before Class – Steam/cook Chinese sausage for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature and chop into small pieces. Soften the dried shrimp in a bowl of warm water for 20 minutes and chop into small pieces. Soften the dried shitake mushroom in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes and chop into small pieces. Store Chinese sausage, shrimp, and mushroom in a storage container and place into the refrigerator.
Peel the turnip and grate/shred the turnip. In a large pot, add 2 cups and 1 tbs of water with the grated turnip and bring to a boil. Once it is boiled, turn off the stove. Do not drain the water.
Heat large pan over medium heat and add 2 tbs of oil to the pan. Saute the chopped shallots until softened. Add the mushroom and shrimp and ¾ of the Chinese sausage, and sauté. Add grated turnip and water, along with the remaining ingredients (oyster sauce, cooking wine, salt, sesame oil, white pepper, and sugar) and stir until it comes to the boil and then let it simmer.
In a large mixing bowl, add the turnip cake powder and cornstarch and mix well. Add chicken stock and mix until there are no lumps. Add the rest of the ingredients from the pan into the large bowl to mix. Pour everything back into the large pan and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring continuously to ensure it does not stick to the bottom or burns.
Remove pan from heat and pour mixture into baking pan lined with parchment paper. Add the remaining ¼ of the Chinese sausage on top and press it gently. Set up your steamer with boiling water and cook for 1 hour. Take the pan out of the steamer and let it cool completely.
Sauce – In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, black bean soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, garlic, and hot chili peppers.
Turnip cake may be eaten as is with sauce to dip it in or sliced and pan fried in some oil until golden brown.