Dubai: White radish is not a common ingredient that’s used in cuisines around the world. A few countries have mastered the art of crafting recipes around it - you can use white radish to make curry dishes in India, pancakes in Pakistan and soups in Japan. Southern Chinese use them to make savoury cakes.
Despite its humble look, this popular Cantonese dim sum dish often surprises diners with its light, yet subtle flavour. The closest word one can use to describe the flavour may be ‘umami’, “…that deep, dark, meaty intensity that distinguishes seared beef, soy sauce, ripe tomato, parmesan cheese, anchovies, and mushrooms, among other things. It hits the back of your throat and leaves you craving more,” as The New Yorker magazine’s food critic Hannah Goldfield describes.
Health benefits of white radish
As the key ingredient of Chinese radish cake, white radish has many health benefits. Native to east Asia, the root vegetable contains only 18 calories per 100 grams. Its nutrients include dietary fiber, potassium, sodium, calcium, vitamin C, magnesium and phosphorus, as per the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
It’s particularly high in dietary fiber, which with high intakes, individuals appear to be at significantly lower risk for developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and certain gastrointestinal diseases. It also lowers blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels, and enhances weight loss, according to the United States National Library of Medicine.
What do natives say about radish cake
UAE-based tea artist Huaiying Fan is from Guangdong province, the first time she tried radish cake was in elementary school, “it impressed me – the fresh and mild spicy taste of XO sauce, along with the tender yet crispy radish cake are irresistible.
I personally like my radish cake fried with dried shrimps and XO sauce. It’s crispy and fragrant. It’s the definition of ‘delicious’ in my book.
“Traditionally, most farmers in Guangdong grew radish as an important source of income. Meanwhile, as a must-have dim sum dish, it’s also often served on the table to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In winter, consuming radish is also said to bring people many health benefits.
“You can have radish cake in two ways – steamed or fried. I personally like my radish cake fried with dried shrimps and XO sauce. It’s crispy and fragrant. It’s the definition of ‘delicious’ in my book.”
Radish cake ... originated in the Chaoshan area of Guangdong. There, people call it ‘cai tou guo’, meaning ‘good luck’.
Jinlong Liu is the head chef of a Cantonese restaurant in Dubai. From Guangdong province, he says that radish cake is from the Chaoshan area of Guangdong. “Radish cake is a traditional Chinese cake, a specialty in Fujian, Guangdong and other regions. It originated in the Chaoshan area of Guangdong. There, people call it ‘cai tou guo’, meaning ‘good luck’. It’s said that one year, the local people in Chaoshan area had a big harvest of radish, but they couldn’t sell all, so someone came up with the idea of using the excess amount of radish to make radish cakes. It’s not only delicious, but also nutritious. So, gradually, this humble dish became popular among the Chinese.”
Its importance to southern Chinese equals to the importance of dumplings to northern Chinese.
Chengbin Guo, has been working in the logistics sector in the UAE for 9 years, he is also a fan of radish cake. “In ancient times, radish cake became the easiest and most accessible food to make in winter. With time, people grew attached to it. Its importance to southern Chinese equals to the importance of dumplings to northern Chinese. Modern people's living standards have improved, and there is a variety of radish cakes. However, the traditional ones still use ingredients such as white radish, rice flour, water, water chestnut powder, and dried shrimps. The colour of it is golden yellow or pinkish white, and its taste is soft and fragrant. You can dip it in a sauce of your liking.”
Here are all the ingredients you need for this dish:
Ingredients:
3.5 kg white radish
330 gms rice flour
170 gms corn flour
200 gms water chestnut powder
25 gms salt
30 gms chicken extract powder
50 gms monosodium glutamate
150 gms white refined sugar
4 gms white pepper powder
50 gms vegetable oil
750 ml room temperature water
1.5 l boiled water
If you want to make a smaller portion of the radish cake, you can reduce the ingredients proportionally.
Making the radish cake
1. Wash and peel the white radish.
2. Cut or shred them into 6- to 8-centimetre long, and about 1-centimetre wide strips. Salt the strips and set on the side for 10 minutes. Squeeze the water out.
3. Put 1.5 litres of water in a pot. Bring it to boil.
4. While the water is being boiled, mix rice flour, corn flour, water chestnut powder, salt, chicken extract powder, white refined sugar, monosodium glutamate and white pepper powder together well.
5. Then, pour 750 ml of room temperature water into the dry mixture gradually, till all dry ingredients dissolve.
6. Pour vegetable oil into the liquid mixture slowly. This will add a smooth texture to the final product of radish cake. Set the liquid mixture aside for later use.
7. When the water is boiled, put radish strips into the boiled water. Cook them till they are soft, however, they should not break apart.
8. Use a sieve to scoop the cooked radish strips up – you don’t need to drain the water too much. Then, put the radish strips into the liquid mixture.
9. Mix the liquid mixture with radish strips well. Add boiled water into the mix if needed, till the radish strips are immersed fully into the liquid mixture. However, you should still be able to see the strips.
10. Pour the final mixture into a steaming pan. Press down the mixture. Add tin foil on top. Then, transfer the pan into a steamer. Steam for about 50 minutes.
11. Take the pan out of the steamer. Let it cool down. Then, freeze the steamed radish cake in the fridge for about 8 hours.
12. After freezing it, cut it into 8-centimetre long, 6-centimetre wide and 2-centimetre thick blocks. Set the blocks aside for later use.
13. Oil your frying pan lightly. Fry the radish cake blocks in the pan till both sides turn golden brown, and form a crispy layer. Splash some oil on the blocks while frying, where needed, so they don’t get dry or burnt.
14. Plate the pan-fried radish cake blocks. Then, serve them with Cantonese chili sauce, or XO sauce.
