Turnip cake (lo bak gou / 蘿蔔糕) brings back the fond memory of my childhood seeping a pot of bottomless Pu’er tea with my father in the dim sum house every Sunday morning.

Besides the barbecue pork bun, shrimp dumpling, and Shumai, pan-fried turnip cake is the dim sum I always order whenever the lady trundled her cart beside my table with towers of bamboo steamers full of dim sum.

The turnip cake is crispy outside yet tender, almost melting inside the mouth. This umami-rich dim sum has been etched in my mind, and whenever I think about it, my belly rumbles.

These days, I don’t go for my breakfast yum cha session anymore. Instead, I prepare the turnip cake with extra ingredients to make it more delectable. I also plan to make it one of the festive items during the Chinese New Year.

Note: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy for more info. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

How to Make Chinese Turnip Cakes (蘿蔔糕) | Dim Sum Style (Chinese lo bak go)

This savory turnip cake (also called Chinese radish cake, lo bak go) is a traditional dish served at dim sum restaurants along with other delicacies like shumai and barbecue pork bun.

How to make radish cake (turnip cake)? Easy! I have divided this cake recipe into a few steps. Each step can be done separately and even at a different time.

1. Stir-fry the dry seafood, sausage, and mushrooms
2. Cook the turnip
3. Constitute the flour mix
4. Steam the turnip cake
5. Pan-fried the turnip cake (optional)

Let’s look at each step one by one.

Turnip cake or radish cake?

The English translation of the Chinese words lo bak go / 萝卜糕 is confusing. In reality, it is prepared with radish, which is shredded in this dish. However, since some Chinese describe both turnip and radish as “lo bak / 萝卜,” it has become a tradition to call it turnip cake. It is also called Chinese carrot cake in Singapore since carrot is also called ‘lo bak’ in Chinese! Therefore, I use both terms in this recipe interchangeably.

Step 1- Stir-fry the dry seafood, sausage, and mushrooms

First, let me clarify that this Chinese turnip cake recipe is savory, not a sweet dessert! The main ingredients besides the turnip are Chinese sausage, dry shiitake mushrooms, dry scallops, and dry shrimp.

Dried scallops (Conpoy or 乾貝, 江瑶柱)

You can certainly make changes to this list of ingredients. Due to their high cost, most Chinese turnip cake recipes of the dim sum house do not include dry scallops. You have the luxury of adding some dry scallops to the turnip cake and transforming an ordinary dessert into a drool-worthy and addictive delicacy.

The dried scallop is a favorite item in many Chinese gourmet cuisines, including soup stock, shark fins, congee, stew, and XO sauce. It has a dominant savory taste, as opposed to fresh scallops. A small amount of dry scallops goes a long way.

Here is what you need to do:

• Soak it in water for at least half a day.
• Do not discard the water after soaking. Using this water to cook the turnip can enhance the flavor. Shred the hydrated dried scallops into small threads.

Dried mushrooms 冬菇

• Soak the dried mushrooms for half a day or overnight until adequately hydrated. The larger mushrooms take a longer time to get hydrated and soft. Remove the stems and cut the mushrooms into small cubes.
• The water is full of flavor after soaking the mushrooms. Use it as stock to constitute the flour batter and to cook the turnip.

Dried shrimp 蝦米

• Soak the dry shrimp for an hour. Discard the water and clean the dried shrimp thoroughly to remove any sand and shell.
• Chop the dry shrimp coarsely into small pieces.

Chinese sausage (lap cheong 臘腸)

• Soak the Chinese sausage in hot water for ten minutes. The casing of the sausage will puff up, which can be removed from the sausage easily. An alternative to lap cheung is the Chinese bacon called 金华火腿.
• Cut the Chinese sausage into small dice.

Stir-fry the ingredients

• Pan-fry the Chinese sausage until fragrant. The oil from the sausage will render and turn aromatic.
• Add the dried scallops and dried shrimp to the pan. Stir-fry over low heat until fragrant. You can add more cooking oil if necessary at this stage.
• Add the mushrooms. Combined and set aside.

Step 2- Cut and cook the turnip

Choose the turnips that feel heavy when you hold them, as they contain more water and are fresher.

Peel off the skin and divide it into two equal portions. Cut half into fine julienne, and shred the other half with a box grater.

The Chinese turnip is slightly bitter and pungent. Some people like it, but it may not appeal to everyone. You can shred all the turnips instead of cutting half into julienne and squeeze out the turnip’s water to reduce the pungent flavor.

I prefer to shred half and cut the other half into small strips, giving the Chinese turnip cake some texture and a slightly crunchy mouthfeel.

• Put the turnip (shredded and strips) into the large pan.
• Add a small amount of the mushroom water and cook over low heat until the turnip turns slightly off-white and translucent, which takes about ten minutes of simmering. Stir occasionally to avoid browning and sticking to the pan.
• Cook until all the water is evaporated. Otherwise, the cake will have too much water, making it soggy.
• Add the stir-fried seafood, mushroom, and sausage and combine with the turnip.

Note: This recipe is called turnip cake since this is how recipes are translated. The turnip is the Chinese white radish 白萝卜(daikon radish in Japanese). (Refer to the image above).

Step 3- Constitute the flour mix

Rice flour is the main ingredient in the recipe to hold the turnip cake in shape. Most Chinese radish cake recipes also include a small amount of wheat starch to ensure all the components stick together. You may replace corn starch or tapioca starch to get the same result.

The rice flour to starch ratio in this recipe is 5:1, which works well.

Combine the flour and starch in a large mixing bowl. Add the seasoning (salt, sugar, ground white pepper, and sesame oil). Pour the mushroom water into the flour mix and stir well to avoid forming lumps. It should eventually become a smooth batter.

Note: You can add some light soy sauce and oyster sauce. I leave it that way as my ingredients will provide sufficient flavor to the turnip cake.

The right amount of water

The water content is critical to the success of the turnip cake. It will become soggy and unable to form if there is too much water or too hard if it is insufficient.

My magical ratio of the turnip: water: rice flour is 100:40:20. You can follow this ratio or reduce some water should you prefer a firmer texture.

Step 4- Steam the turnip cake

Once the flour batter is ready, add it to the turnip and combine well.

• Let the turnip mix cool before adding the flour batter because the starch will get cooked and turn sticky if it is too hot. It will not affect the result, but transferring the batter to the steaming container is messy.
• Brush the surface of the container with some oil.
• Spoon the turnip mix into the container and level the top.
• Cover with aluminum foil (or cling wrap) to avoid water dripping onto the surface during steaming.
• Steam the turnip mixture over medium heat for fifty minutes.
• Remove the aluminum foil and insert a wooden skewer into the center of the cake. It is cooked if the skewer comes out clean.
• Let it cool down, and keep it in the refrigerator for a few hours to let it firm up.

Step 5- Pan-fry the turnip cake

• Remove the turnip cake from the refrigerator. Run a knife along the sides of the container and remove it with a spatula or knife.
• Cut it into slices or any shape that you like. You can serve it by heating it over the steamer or in a microwave oven, but it tastes lovely if you pan-fry the turnip cake slightly before serving.
• After pan-frying both sides until it changes to a golden brown color, arrange on the plate and sprinkle some chopped spring onions (green onion) and fried shallot as the topping. Serve.

Note: If the turnip cake is too soft, keep it in the freezer until it is firm before slicing it.

Storage

• Portion the turnip cake and keep it in separate containers
• It freezes well up to a few weeks. Defrost at room temperature until it is soft enough before cutting into slices. Pan-fry and serve.

Related recipe- Chinese Taro Cake

If you like this recipe, you may also like the Chinese Taro Cake, a savory dessert. It is a popular Chinese dessert for breakfast that you can find in the Dim Sum shops along with shrimp dumplings, Char Siu Pao, Shumai, and others.

The Chinese radish and carrot soup is a common home-cooked Cantonese vegetable soup. Check this out if you like Chinese soups.

The Turnip Cake recipe