2011.11.26

香煎腊味萝卜糕 – Pan Fried “Carrot” Cake

香煎腊味萝卜糕

Mum makes a terrific version of 腊味萝卜糕 or Steamed Chinese “Carrot” Cake back home, usually nice enough (and with better ingredients) to rival even those that are sold in dim-sum restaurants back home. The term “carrot cake” is actually a misnomer — the carrot used is actually a kind of Asian radish that is commonly called Daikon (大根 – literally big root!) in Japan or Mooli in India. Mum’s version of 腊味萝卜糕 is made the traditional way — wok-steamed in a baking tray. I attempted to make a similar version in London using some recipes I found on the internet but was let down because my wok and wok cover was not large enough to allow me to steam the carrot cake properly! My brother has had some success with making 腊味萝卜糕 using the microwave but was not able to give me an exact recipe. I came up with my own after some experimentation and modification of recipes that I found online. I may be biased, but I think my version with the microwave is a sufficiently close imitation of what Mum does traditionally :p

Ingredients (serves 2-3 persons)

  •  1 bowl of grated Chinese radish or mooli (approximately 250g)
  • 1 bowl of rice flour (approximately 250g)
  • 2 bowls of boiling water (500mls)
  • 1 length of Chinese sausage lap cheong – chopped and diced into small bits
  • 5-7 small dried scallops (pre-soaked in water to soften it, and then chopped & diced). Use dried shrimp as an alternative
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp of Chicken or ikan bilis stock granules
  • Salt, cooking oil and pepper to taste
  • Optional: chopped spring onions (scallions) and coriander leaves for garnishing, sweet sauce and chilli to taste

Method

Prepare grated Chinese radish first

  • Add chicken or ikan bills stock granules with 1 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil and pepper to taste to grated Chinese radish and mix well.
  • Cover bowl with microwave-save clear wrap. Puncture wrap over several areas with a fork to allow steam to escape.
  • Cook on “high” in the microwave oven for 2 minutes
  • Remove the bowl from the microwave, uncover, and stir the contents before resealing the wrap and cooking on “high” for a further 2 minutes
  • Leave to stand

Mix the flour and ingredients

  • Use a microwave-safe glass dish — I use a rectangular Pyrex-grade one that fits just nicely into my microwave oven
  • Add rice flour to dish
  • Boil 500mls of water and pour into the dish.
  • Mix the hot water well into the rice flour. Bits of it may start turning doughy but it’s important to continue stirring the mixture constantly. You should get a uniform yoghurt-like consistency if you do it well.
  • To the flour and hot-water mixture, add Chinese sausage, dried scallops and microwave-cooked Chinese radish.
  • Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil and approximately 1 tsp of salt and mix thoroughly.
  • The final mixture should like like concentrated coleslaw. Smoothen the surface of the mixture as much as possible.

Steaming the “carrot” cake

  • Cover glass dish with microwave-safe clear wrap, puncturing the wrap at several places with a fork to allow escape of steam
  • Microwave on “high” for 4 minutes and then on “medium” for 17 – 20 minutes
The final steamed “carrot cake” should look like this:

Freshly steamed 腊味萝卜糕

Allow steamed “carrot” cake to cool. Do not be worried if the “carrot” cake feels a little too gooey to what you might be expecting. As the “carrot” cake cools, the texture will start to firm up nicely. An alternative is to leave the freshly steamed “carrot” cake in the fridge overnight. The absorption of excess moisture will eventually firm up the texture of the “carrot” cake nicely.
The “carrot” cake can be either cut and then served steaming hot (with spring onions, coriander and sweet sauce/chilli), or alternatively, heat up a frying pan with with cooking oil and pan-fry slices of the “carrot” cake till the surface is nicely brown and crisp!
I find that the microwave does steam the “carrot” cake a little unevenly — the centre tends to be nice and soft while the sides can dry up a little. An alternative would be to steam it the traditional way in a wok. I have managed good results by steaming it at high heat for 45 minutes. It takes almost twice the time compared to the microwave method. However, you do get a more consistently-steamed “carrot” cake in return for your patience!

Steamed 腊味萝卜糕

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