Turnip Cake (Lo Bak Go)

Chinese turnip cake or lo bak go is a popular dim sum dish that's often also served at banquets and for holidays like Lunar New Year. It's a savory radish cake loaded with radish, Chinese sausage and cured meat, and dry seafood and shiitake mushrooms. Enjoy it with some Chinese chili oil or this 5 minute chili oil for a little kick or add it to your New Year menu along with some new year rice cake and pineapple pastry.

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Dried ingredients:
Rinse the dried shrimps, dried scallops, and dried shiitake mushrooms to remove any debris and place each into a heatproof bowl. Add enough hot water to each bowl to cover the contents. Set aside and let them rehydrate for about 15 to 30 minutes as you prepare the other ingredients.
Once all of the dried ingredients are rehydrated, drain their soaking liquid into a measuring cup (set this aside, we will need it later). Roughly chop up the shrimps, shred the scallops, and dice the shiitake mushrooms. Set aside until needed.
The radish:
Wash and peel the Chinese radish. Cut half of the radish into ¼ inch slices then into ¼ inch sticks. Set aside until needed. For the other half of the radish, either grate it by hand using the coarsest side of a box grater, use a food processor with the coarsest grating attachment, or julienne the radish by hand so that they are thin matchsticks. Set aside until needed.

Make the turnip cake:

In a large saute pan or wok over medium heat, add about 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the pan is hot, add the shallot and the white part of the green onion and saute briefly until fragrant, about 15 to 30 seconds. Then add the Chinese sausage and cured meat and saute for about 30 seconds. Following, add the rehydrated shrimps, scallop, and shiitake mushrooms and saute until fragrant, about another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Remove from pan and set aside.
In the same pan over medium heat, add the last tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the radish sticks (the thick ones). Saute for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the grated radish and saute for another minute or until there's some liquid starts to pool at the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle in the sugar and mix well. Increase the heat to medium high and cover the pan with a lid. Let the radish steam for about 3 to 5 minutes or until the thick radish sticks are just cooked and look translucent. Remove from heat.
At this point, there will be a pool of liquid at the bottom of the pan. Using a mesh strainer, drain liquid into a bowl and firmly press on the radish to remove excess moisture. Do this in batches. After draining, place the radish back into the pan and pour the collected radish cooking liquid into the measuring cup with the soaking liquid to equal 2 cups (this is the 2 cups of total liquid needed in the ingredient list per recipe). If it's not enough, add water to make up for it.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the rice flour and cornstarch. Add the reserved liquid (from soaking and the radish) and whisk until no lumps remain and the batter is smooth. Season the batter with salt and white pepper and whisk to combine. Set aside.
Prepare a round cake pan (8 or 9 inch) or anything that will fit inside of your steam basket and grease the bottom and sides with oil. We also recommend lining the bottom of the pan with a sheet of parchment for easier removal.
Heat the pan with the radish over medium heat and add the sautéed cured meat and seafood. Mix and saute everything until well combined and hot again.
Give the prepared batter a good mix and pour it into the pan with the radish. Mix and toss everything until the batter thickens and everything holds together. Make sure to mix and stir constantly and scrape the bottom of the pan to prevent the batter from burning. When the starch is thick and paste-like, add the green parts of the green onion. Give it a good mix to incorporate and take the pan off the heat.

Assemble and steam:

Bring 2 to 3 inches of water to a boil in your steamer.
Meanwhile assemble the turnip cake. Transfer the turnip cake mixture into the greased cake pan. Make sure the batter is packed into the pan and that there's no air pockets. Smooth and flatten out the top of the mixture.
*If using an 8 inch pan, the turnip cake will reach the lip of the pan but it should all fit.*
Optional - Sprinkle the reserved Chinese sausage and cured meat on top of the turnip cake then give it a gentle pat to make sure everything sticks.
Place the turnip cake into the steamer with the lid on and steam on high for about 40 minutes or until the turnip cake is cooked through. You can check if it's cooked by inserting a thick skewer or a chopstick in the center. If it comes out clean or with only translucent bits, it's done.
Remove the turnip cake from the steamer and let it cool completely before covering and refrigerating. Sprinkle some thinly sliced green onion on top for garnish if desired.
We recommend letting the turnip cake chill in the fridge overnight for easier cutting.*

To serve:

Once the turnip cake is cooled, run a knife around the edge of the pan. Flip the pan upside down onto the cutting board to remove the turnip cake. Take off the parchment paper if used. Cut the turnip cake into ½ inch slices (or your desired thickness).
In a nonstick pan over medium heat, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Arrange the sliced turnip cakes in the pan, and sear both sides until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. If desired, you can sear all of the sides as well. Remove from pan.
Garnish the seared turnip cake with more green onion if desired and enjoy by itself, with chili oil, Sriracha, soy sauce, or XO sauce while hot.

Ingredients

For the turnip cake:

To serve:

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Make the turnip cake:

Assemble and steam:

To serve:

Notes

Nutrition

Turnip Cake (Lo Bak Go)

Ingredients 1x2x3x4x

For the turnip cake:

To serve:

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients:

Make the turnip cake:

Assemble and steam:

To serve:

Notes

Nutrition

Ingredients