Turnip cake
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| Alternative names | Radish cake |
|---|---|
| Course | Dim sum,yum cha |
| Place of origin | Southern China |
| Region or state | Chinese-speaking areas |
| Main ingredients | Shredded radish (typicallyChinese radish), plainrice flour |
| Variations | Fried,steamed,chai tow kway |
| Turnip cake | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | La bặc cao | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | La bặc cao | ||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | radish cake | ||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | Thái đầu quả | ||||||||||||||||
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| Burmese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Burmese | အော်ကေ့ကျီ | ||||||||||||||||
| IPA | [ɔ̀kḛʧì] | ||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese | bánh củ cải | ||||||||||||||||
Turnip cakeis aChinesedim sumdish. The less common nameradish cakeis more accurate, as Western-style turnips are not used in the dish but rather shredded radish (typicallyChinese radish) and plainrice flour.It is traditionally calledcarrot cakein Singapore.
Turnip cake is commonly served inCantoneseyum cha,usually cut into rectangular slices and sometimespan-friedbefore serving. Each pan-fried cake has a thin crunchy layer on the outside from frying, and is soft on the inside. The non-fried version is soft all over. It is one of the standard dishes found in thedim sumcuisine of China as well as in overseasChinatownrestaurants. It is also commonly eaten duringChinese New Year,since the word for radish (Thái đầu;chhài-thâu) is a homophone for "good fortune" (Hảo thải đầu;hó-chhái-thâu) in theHokkienlanguage.[1]InTaiwan,turnip cake is also commonly eaten as part of breakfast.
Names
[edit]The dish is known as "fried carrot cake" or simply "carrot cake" in Southeast Asian countries, as the word fordaikon,one of its main ingredients, can also refer to a carrot (Hồng thái đầu;âng-chhài-thâu;'red radish'). There is no connection between this dish and the sweet Westerncarrot cake.It is called "carrot cake" because of a loose English translation ofchhài-thâu-kóe,which caught on among the non-native speaking diners. Thismisnomergave the title to a popular guidebook onSingapore's street food,There's No Carrot in Carrot Cake,which was written by Ruth Wan, Roger Hiew, and Leslie Tay, published byEpigram Booksin 2010.[2]
Preparation
[edit]To prepare a turnip cake, roots ofChinese radishare first shredded.[3]Chinese radish, either the white-and-green variety or the all-white variety, is one of the key ingredients since it makes up a large portion of the cake. The other key ingredients are water andrice flour.Corn starchis sometimes added as it aids in binding the cake together, especially when a large number of additional ingredients (see list below) are added. The ingredients are stirred together until combined.
Additional ingredients that provideumamiflavouring can be also added. They include diced or minced pieces of:
These flavoring ingredients may first bestir-friedbefore being added to the radish and flour/starch mixture. Somewhat more luxurious cakes will add larger amounts of these ingredients directly to the mixture. Cheaper variants, especially those sold indim sumrestaurants, will often have just a sprinkling on the top, to keep costs down.
This combined mixture is then poured in a steamer lined with greasedaluminum foilorcellophane,andsteamedat high heat for 40 to 60 minutes until it solidifies into a gelatinous mass.
For those with allergies to radishes, some recipes substitute turnip for radish.[citation needed]Taroorpumpkincakes are other variants to it.
Uses
[edit]Although the steamed turnip cakes can be consumed straight with soy sauce, they are commonly cooked again to add additional flavors. For instance, turnip cake can be sliced into rectangular pieces when cooled and then pan-fried until both sides turn golden. It is served withchili sauceand/orhoisin sauceon the side ascondiments.
Turnip cake can also be stir-fried and made into the dishchai tow kway.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Bartholomew, Ian (24 January 2008)."New Year's Eve dinner: easy as pie".Taipei Times.p. 13.Retrieved16 July2011.
- ^Wan, Ruth; Hiew, Roger; Tay, Leslie (2010).There's no carrot in carrot cake.Epigram.ISBN9789810828653.OCLC538153593.
- ^"Turnip or Radish Cake with Chinese Sausages".tastehongkong.com.February 23, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 8 December 2012.Retrieved6 September2012.
External links
[edit]
- Sue-On's KitchenArchived2009-08-05 at theWayback Machine
