recipes@decwrl.UUCP (11/20/87)
TURNIP-CAKES(M) USENET Cookbook TURNIP-CAKES(M)
STEAMED TURNIP CAKE
TURNIP-CAKES - An easy recipe for Cantonese salty turnip
cakes
We usually make this cake in winter time. I got this recipe
originally from a magazine in Hong Kong. It is a new and
easy way to make this Cantonese specialty. I have tried
this recipe on about ten Americans. They all like it.
INGREDIENTS ()
1 lb corn starch
3 cups cold water
6 lb turnips, peeled and grated
10 oz Cantonese sausage (about 8 sausages)
1/2 cup Chinese dried shrimps
6 Tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups chicken broth (or use water and bouillon cubes).
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp cooking wine
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp
salt
1 tsp ground pepper
PROCEDURE
(1) Soak dried shrimps in lukewarm water until
softened, drain. Mix well the corn starch with 3
cups of cold water, by hand.
(2) Dice the sausages. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan and
stir fry the sausages and dried shrimps for about
7 mins. Add the soy sauce, cooking wine, and 1/2
tsp sugar. Stir fry for 1 more minute, remove from
heat, and set aside.
(3) In a large stock pot, heat up 4 Tbsp of oil, the
chicken broth, 1/2 cup of water, 1 Tbsp sugar,
salt, and ground pepper. Add the grated turnip
and mix well. Cook, covered, over high heat for
about 15 minutes.
(4) Grease four 9-inch round cake pans with some shor-
tening.
(5) Add sausages to the cooked turnip mixture and mix
well. Then add the cornstarch mixture and stir
quickly over low heat until it looks transparent,
about 7 mins.
(6) Place cake mixture in greased pans, and steam over
high heat for 1 hour and 20 mins.
(7) Let the cakes cool completely before cutting.
Cooled cakes can be easily taken out of pans
upside down. Turnip cakes taste better when served
warm and topped with soy sauce and a little bit of
chili sauce. Or they can be cut up into thin
slices and pan fried slightly with oil before
serving.
NOTES
If you don't have a steamer, a 16 quart stock pot can be a
very good steamer. Any casseroles that can fit in your stea-
mer can be used instead of cake pans.
Cantonese sausages are usually made with pork cubes. They
are made by dehydrating the sausages with cold air and are
usually available in the winter time. The diameter is about
the same as American breakfast sausages but is about 5 to 6
inches long. The sausages have to be cut into very fine
cubes so that they mix well with the turnips. The cake
tastes good partly because of the flavor of the sausages. I
have never tried anything else. But I think bacon bits might
be able to mix well with the turnip mixture. Of course, the
cake will taste different with bacon bits.
RATING
Difficulty: moderate. Time: 1 hour preparation, 2 hours
cooking and cooling. Precision: measure the ingredients.
CONTRIBUTOR
Infan Cheong
Computer Science Dept., U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
cheong@uiucdcs.cs.uiuc.edu