Radish Cake

I have been craving this one for a while now... and they only have them at the "yum cha" places here... and it's really not that difficult to DIY... and once you learned it, you can put the same formula to Taro Cake, Sticky Rice, etc.


Source:
Knowledge about the dish and my own imagination
(Note: that means I don't have exactly measurements of what I put in the dish...)

Ingredients:
1. 1 medium size Chinese white radish (well, you can splurge a Japanese radish but it's really not necessary)2. ½ packet of Rice Flour (not to be mistaken with Glutinous Rice Flour)3. Dried mushrooms (乾冬菇), dried shrimps (蝦米), dried scallops (乾瑤柱), and Chinese sausage (腊腸) – diced – this is used as topping on your radish cake, so equal mix of everything. But feel free to do whatever you want. (Note: All of these ingredients can be found at a large Chinese groceries store, you can write down those Chinese characters and ask a store person to help you. Sorry I am too lazy to put up individual pictures of what they look like.)
4. Chopped green onions and sesame seed

You would need (other than the normal stuff):
1. Shredder – or you can just cut your radish into thin slices
2. Cake pan – you can use those disposable aluminum foil ones
(Note: you don’t need to buy what you don’t have; instead, use what you have!)

What to do:
1. Shred the white radish (you want a nice layer in your pan – so if you are just trying this dish using a smaller pan, you don’t have to shred the whole radish… use your common sense.)2. Stir the rice flour into #1 (just enough to be moist by your shredded radish – so if you needed more/less, adjust accordingly.)
3. Dice everything you can dice and pull other things into small bits. (Do not make the same mistake I have! Soak your mushrooms and the other dried stuff at least 4-6 hours before you need it! Also, don’t spend too much money and buy the big mushrooms, etc. It’s a waste for this dish!!! You can’t even taste the difference because there are so many other flavors going on!!! Just buy/use the small & cheap ones)4. Pile #3 on top of #2. I also added a little of the water I used to soak #3 (only if you have rinse #3 & #4 before you soaked them – so don’t use the water if you didn’t pre-wash them)
5. Steam #4 until your chopsticks / toothpick comes out clean (I left mine for an hour but yours could take more/less)6. Sprinkle the green onions and sesame seed and serve.

Twist:
This is one of those dishes that taste better the day after so I usually leave it overnight. I slice them and pan fry them so it’s nice and crisp. Then I put the green onions, sesame seed and Sriracha hot sauce.