Daikon Radish Cake

My mother-in-law makes the best Chinese turnip cake or daikon radish cake.  It's usually a dim sum staple and tastes delicious pan fried to a a golden crisp on the outside after it's steamed.  I saw daikon on sale at the grocery store and thought of this dish.  I had most of the ingredients at home and it looked easy to make so I decided to give it a try.  The only thing I did not have was shiitake mushroom which hubs doesn't like anyway so I skipped it.

Daikon Radish Cake
From Nook and Pantry

Ingredients:

2 1/2 - 3 cups coarsely shredded daikon (around 1.5 - 2 lbs)
1 Chinese sausage, finely diced
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, finely diced (I skipped this)
2 Tbsp small dried shrimp, finely diced
1 - 2 green onion stalks, chopped
2 cups rice flour (do not use glutinous rice flour)
1 3/4 cups water
salt and white pepper
oil

Method:

Rehydrate the dried mushrooms and dried shrimp by soaking them in hot water for about 15 minutes. Peel and shred daikon; set aside. Mix rice flour with 1 cup of water. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a skillet or wok and stir fry chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, shrimp, and green onion for 2 to 3 minutes. Add daikon, 3/4 cup water, 1-2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp white pepper. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. Stir in the rice flour water mixture until it thicken then pour into a well greased round or square cake pan. Steam over medium high heat for about 50 minutes. Cool or chill overnight. After cooling, cut the cake into 1/4 inch thick slices and pan fry both sides until golden brown. *Serve with chili soy sauce.

*You can also serve the crispy daikon cake with eggs.  My husband grew up eating homemade daikon cakes this way.  Just beat an egg with salt and pepper to taste.  Then while the cakes fry on both sides, pour the egg over the daikon and let it set, turning them over so that they are coated with the egg.  Transfer to a serving plate once the the egg is set and cooked through and dip in sauce.