Saturday, October 12, 2013

Chinese Turnip Cakes (蘿蔔糕)

Today I'd like to introduce you to one of my dim sum favorites!  Every time I go back to Taiwan or China to visit my relatives, I always order these to eat.  Mmm!



Pronounced luo buo gao, it's a comfort food that is starchy and crispy.  Chinese turnip cakes are often available for dim sum in restaurants and often found as a snack on the streets of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.  It is typically served with a thick, sweet soy sauce.  It is made from shredding up turnip and mixing in dried shrimp, Chinese sausage pieces, and mushrooms to add flavor to it.

Making it from scratch is actually fairly easy but I always go with the store-bought pre-made block.  You can typically find it in your Asian supermarket's refrigerated aisle.  It's convenient and costs about $4 for a block (similar to the size of a tofu block) and you can cut it up into 14-16 slices of medium thickness, then fry it in a pan.  Perfect for two people to share.  As pictured, I only used half a block for a midnight snack.

I heat up the pan over medium heat with a little bit of oil and then just lay in the slices.  You let it cook for 5-10 minutes until brown and crisp on one side.  Then, flip 'em over for the other side to crisp up.  I also like to turn the slices so that they stand on their side and crisp those edges as well!


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