Daikon Radish Cake (Lo Bo Gao)

Another dim sum staple. Many moons ago (circa 1986), my grandmother did a test run of this recipe on one of her weekend cookfests at my apartment in Montebello. It was fantastic, and of late I've been striving, out of nostalgia, to duplicate her perfect rendition. After much trial and error, I've come to the conclusion that too much rice flour makes the radish cake one tough cookie. So here's the refined version:

Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium daikon radishes, peeled & shredded (to make 10 cups) 
1 cup water
1 Chinese sausage, chopped (or 1/4 cup of chopped ham, or 2 slices bacon, chopped)
4-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water, stems removed & chopped (1/2 cup)
1 tbsp. dried shrimp, soaked in hot water & minced
3 scallions, diced
3 tbsp. fried shallots
2  tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1 1/2 cups rice flour

1 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Chinese sweet hot mustard
Sriracha or sambal
Oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Shred radish and place in medium pan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook about 20-30 minutes until radish is tender, then strain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid (if not enough for 1 cup, add hot water); set aside.

2. Place shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp in bowl and cover with hot tap water. Soak for 20 minutes or until softened.

3. Chop scallion, Chinese sausage, softened mushroom caps & dried shrimp. Set aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add diced mushrooms, Chinese sausage, chopped dried shrimp and dried shallots; sauté for about 5 minutes, then stir in the scallions. Remove from heat and set aside.a

5. Add salt, sugar, white pepper, rice flour, cornstarch and 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid to the shredded daikon radish. Mix well to combine. 

6. Oil a 9" x 5" baking pan, then pour in the daikon radish mixture.

7. Bring steamer up to a rolling boil over high heat. Place loaf pan in steamer, cover, reduce heat to medium high and steam for about 1 hour. Remove pan from steamer and let cool to room temp. 

8. Run a knife around the edges of the radish cake, then invert pan on chopping board. Slice cake into 1" slices. Heat 1 tsp. of vegetable oil in skillet over high heat. Add radish cake slices and cook about 2-3 minutes per side until lightly browned (cover pan if necessary). 

9. Serve with Chinese hot mustard, light soy, oyster sauce, or chili sauce (sweet chili sauce, sambal olek, or Sriracha)

Cut the sucker in half for easier handling.

Shred, shred, shred. It's easier the shred the radish lengthwise rather than crosswise.

Add 1 cup of water to the shredded daikon in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes until radish is tender.

Dried shiitake mushrooms. In this recipe use 4 large, or 5 medium shrooms.

Soak dried shrimp & shiitake mushrooms in hot tap water (about 20 minutes) to soften.

Diced shiitake mushrooms, shrimp and Chinese sausage.

Strain the daikon radish, reserving 1 cup of the liquid.

Saute the mushrooms, sausage, fried shallots and dried shrimp, then stir in scallions.

Stir mushroom mixture into the cooked daikon; add the rice flour, cornstarch, 1 cup of reserved cooking liquid, salt, sugar and white pepper. Stir well to combine.

Pour the whole thing into an oiled 9" x 5" loaf pan and place in a steamer. Steam over medium high heat for 1 hour.

Remove from steamer and let cool to room temperature. If not serving right away, cool, cover and place in frig.

When cooled, slice into 1" thick slices.

Heat 1 tsp. oil in skillet & brown radish cake slices on both sides. 

Good condiments are oyster sauce, light soy, Chinese hot mustard, sweet chili sauce, and Sriracha chili sauce.

Crispy on the outside, super tender on the inside...Lo Bo Gao freezes well - just wrap tightly in plastic wrap & put in a Ziploc bag & pop into the freezer.