Ingredients
- 900 g (2 lb) Chinese turnip, grated
- 30 g (1 oz) dried shrimp
- 20 g (2 cups) dried Chinese mushrooms
- 150 g (5 1/2 oz) Chinese sausage (lap cheong)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 3 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 290 g (1 2/3 cups) rice flour
- oil for frying
Method
1. Place the turnip in a large bowl and cover with boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, reserving any liquid, then leave the turnip to drain in a colander. When it is cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess liquid. Place in a large bowl.
2. Soak the dried shrimp in boiling water for 1 hour, then drain, adding any soaking liquid to the reserved turnip liquid.
3. Soak the dried mushrooms in boiling water for 30 minutes, then drain, adding any soaking liquid to the reserved turnip liquid. Squeeze out any excess water from the mushrooms. Remove and discard the stems and finely dice the caps.
4. Place the sausage on a plate in a steamer. cover and steam over simmering water in a wok for 10 minutes, then finely dice it.
5. Heat a wok over high heat, add the oil and heat until very hot. Stir-fry the sausage for 1 minute, then add the shrimp and mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. add the spring onion, sugar, rice wine and pepper, then add the turnip, coriander and rice flour and toss to combine. add 500 ml (2 cups) of the reserved liquid. mix well.
6. Place the mixture in a greased and lined 25 cm (10 inch) square cake tin (or in two smaller tins if your steamers are small). Place the tin in a steamer.
7. Cover and steam over simmering water in a wok for 1¼-1½ hours, or until firm, replenishing with boiling water during cooking. Remove the tin and cool in the fridge overnight. Take the cake from the tin and cut into 5 cm (2 inch) squares that are 1 cm (½ inch) thick.
8. Heat a wok over high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the oil and heat until very hot. cook the turnip cakes in batches, adding more oil between batches if necessary, until golden and crispy.
