Lo Bak Go (Cantonese Turnip Cake)

Ingredients

• 900g daikon radish, peeled
• 2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong), about 80g
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp
• 220g rice flour (not glutinous)
• 30g cornflour
• 250ml cold water, plus 150ml for the radish
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil, plus more for frying
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• Oyster sauce and chilli sauce, to serve

Before you cook

• Soak the dried shrimp and shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain and chop both finely.
• Coarsely grate the daikon on the large holes of a box grater.
• Dice the Chinese sausage into small cubes and slice the spring onions thinly.
• Whisk the rice flour, cornflour, salt, sugar and white pepper with 250ml cold water until completely smooth.
• Oil a 20cm round cake tin generously, including the sides.

Steps

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat.
2. Add the chopped dried shrimp and mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes, until the kitchen smells toasty and sweet.
3. Add the diced Chinese sausage and fry for another 2 minutes, until the fat runs and the edges catch.
4. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and set it aside.
5. Return the wok to medium heat and add the grated daikon with 150ml water.
6. Cover the wok and cook the daikon for 10 minutes, until the shreds turn translucent and collapse.
7. Turn off the heat and stir the rice flour batter once more to loosen it.
8. Pour the batter into the hot daikon and stir hard for 1 minute, until it thickens into a stiff, sticky paste.
9. Fold in three quarters of the fried sausage mixture along with the spring onions.
10. Scrape everything into the oiled tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
11. Scatter the reserved sausage mixture over the surface and press it in lightly.
12. Set the tin in a steamer over rapidly boiling water and steam for 45 minutes, topping up the water once.
13. Push a skewer into the centre; it should come out clean and the cake should feel set but still soft.
14. Lift the tin out and cool the cake for at least 1 hour, or chill it overnight for cleaner slices.
15. Turn the cake out and cut it into slabs about 1.5cm thick.
16. Heat a thin film of oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
17. Fry the slices for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until a crisp golden crust forms.
18. Serve hot, with oyster sauce and chilli sauce for dipping.