I’ve enjoyed this the last few times at dim sum, so I thought I’d give it a go at home since it doesn’t seem that complicated (make a batter, steam, cut up and pan-fry).
Anyone make this? Tips / tricks / suggestions?
Referring to these recipes:
First attempt I would rank as good but not quite what I was after.
The texture was firm, I prefer softer because that’s what I’ve eaten most recently. (@naf I remember you made this a while back and yours didn’t set up? I guess halfway between this and that would be my desired outcome, lol)
All in all, a bit more work than I expected too! But still, it was good and so I’ll try again .
Scroll pics of the play-by-play and outcome.
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I have not read your recipes yet. The ideal recipe will depend on your preference. I have a couple of suggestions
- Selection of radish is important, but not difficult. Make sure you select reasonably fresh and no-dried-out radish.
- Decide if you prefer thin vs thick slice of radish
- The radio between rice flour-to-wheat starch will be personal. Slightly higher ratio of wheat starch will make the final product a bit more bouncy and less crumbly. Too much wheat starch can make it too jelly-like.
How much wheat starch do you use when you make this?
None of the recipes I read called for wheat starch, only rice flour and cornstarch.
Those look good. Water to rice/starch ratio controls the final firmness of the cake.
You are right it is pretty easy. The only real pain is cooking the mixture before steaming.
I like to cut some of the Turnip in to Bâtonnet for texture, just pre cook it a bit before adding the finer shredded. I also keep a bit of the filings back mix with scallion greens and toss with a bit of starch. Then sprinkle them with over the finished caked before streaming just for looks.
Of the 3 recipes that you have linked “Healthy Nibbles” looks to me, to be the best.
I also like The BIC Kitchen Recipes and methods as a resource.
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Haha yes, it was a bit “fragrant” shall we say 
. Thanks for the tips.
I’m guessing that batter to radish proportion makes a difference — the excellent version I had most recently was very loose to the point of falling apart, and it strikes me that there was just enough flour to hold the radish together, vs mine today.
Thanks for the video — very interesting that she adds the batter in stages. Ask the texture of her steamed cake looks as stiff as mine was, but the fried slices look much softer, which I think goes back to the proportion.
(I didn’t note that I used a mini FP to mince the radish instead of grating it, though I don’t believe that made an impact.)
(The recipe you mentioned is the one I ended up using, and she notes that the higher proportion of cornstarch is for a softer cake.)
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I wrote mine before I looked at your recipes. Wheat starch can be substituted with corn starch or tapioca starch…etc.
Everyone has different taste profile. Which recipe has you tried, what you do and do not like? I can help give you advise how to adjust away from your current recipes.
See. Everyone is different. For me, that is way too much cornstarch, and I won’t have liked it.
This recipe source is newer to me but seems helpful:
That’s why I was curious about how much wheat starch you use.
Made With Lau is really good for Cantonese recipes!
I also like Kitchen Tigress’ detailed approach. Haven’t made them, but she uses wheat starch in hers:
Carrot cake is a bit different preparation but the same basic radish/turnip cake.
Souped Up Recipes does a good job usually, too:
Pailin uses tapioca starch. I like a lot of her recipes, so I thought I’d see her approach.
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