For a long, cats have been labeled as junk food, but radish cakes have come to change that perspective.

Radish cakes are made from the herbaceous root vegetables known as Daikon (a variety of radish). It is mostly eaten by the Chinese and Japanese people in Dim Sum restaurants. They usually use it to celebrate the Chinese New Year. But, radish cakes can also be eaten by anybody for whatever purpose they deem fit.

Most people might know radish cakes as turnip cakes. Yes! They are also right. History has it that someone started referring to it as “turnip cake” many years ago, and since then, the name has stuck.

Radish has long been ignored as a vegetable by most people. But radish in cake form makes it more desirable. Radish cake might look crispy on the outside, but biting into it will reveal a flavorful, spicy, and tender texture.

What is a radish cake made of?

The ever flavorful radish cake is made up of not so many ingredients. The ingredients are accessible and can be gotten in grocery stores. On the other hand, preparing a radish cake can take your time, but by the time you are done, it would be worth it.

Radish cake does not require an oven for baking; rather, it is pan-fried. Most people would argue that it is not a cake, but it is. In this section, all the ingredients and a step by step recipe for radish cake would be listed. Note that this recipe is subject to change, depending on the amount of radish cake you want.

Ingredients

1 bunch of radish/daikon
10g of dried scallops
30g of Chinese mushrooms
10g of Chinese sausage
2 tablespoons of salt
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of mushroom water
½ cup of rice flour
2 tablespoon of wheat starch
1 teaspoon of ground white pepper
3 teaspoons of olive oil

Instructions

For me, before I begin preparing any meal, I make sure all my ingredients are within reach. It makes everything easy, and I would advise you to do that too.
2-3 hours before you begin with the procedures, soak your dried scallops, mushroom, and shrimps. Soak them separately until they have a softer and tender feel. Also, remember to keep the water used in soaking mushrooms aside.
Cut the soaked scallops into small uneven sizes. Dice the mushrooms into cubes and chop the soaked shrimps into bits.
Soak the Chinese sausage in hot water for 5-10 minutes. Then, chop the sausage into bits and sauté in a pan until it gives off a nice scent.
To the sautéed sausages, add the shredded scallops, shrimps, and diced mushroom. Pan-fry for a while and set aside.
Grate some of the radishes with a grater and slice the rest into fine stripes.
Cook the sliced and grated radish with your mushroom water, and allow it to cook for 2 minutes—sieve radish from water and place in a bowl.
Add the stir-fried mixture to the cooked radish and mix.
Combine salt, rice flour, wheat starch, white pepper, and sugar. Mix the combination properly and add to the bowl containing the radish mixture.
The pan for frying should be greased with olive oil all over.
Pour bowl content into the pan, level, and shape as desired. Cover the pan with an aluminum foil and steam using medium heat.
Steam for 50-60 minutes. After it must have been cooked, refrigerate for a while so that the shape will be intact.
After refrigeration, cut the formed cake into sizes of your choice. Then, pan-fry each piece until it becomes a nice shade of brown. Then serve.

Why is my turnip cake so soft?

Getting everything right while cooking requires skills. That is why you need to be careful with the number of ingredients you use.

Preparing a turnip cake is no different. Your turnip cake might be soft for two reasons. Firstly, it might be because of the rice flour. Less rice flour in your radish cake automatically means the outcome would be quite soft. The rice flour makes the texture of the cake firmer and more in shape.

Secondly, your radish cake might be soft because of too much water. Yes! Too much mushroom water would give your radish cake a lighter texture. Hence, to avoid that, you need to be careful of the amount of water you add when preparing it.

One thing about cake texture is that it depends on preference. While some might prefer a harder texture, others might want it soft. Therefore, if your preference is hard, use less water and more rice flour. If it is soft, use more water and less flour.

Can you freeze radish cake?

The answer to this question is a big yes! You know the way you freeze your all-purpose flour cake? Radish cake can be frozen too.

Freezing is one of the surest ways of storing radish cake. Radish cakes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 8 days. Just make sure that you already cut the cake into smaller sizes before freezing so that frying them afterward would be easy.

Some people might be scared to refrigerate radish cake because of freeze burn. Well, there is an easy way to overcome that. By using foil paper to wrap the cake before freezing, will prevent it from freezing.

Also, refrigeration does not affect the taste unless you leave it for a long period. However, the texture might become softer, but you would still enjoy it anyway.

How do you steam a turnip cake?

As you might have seen in the recipe, you can steam turnip cake using a greased pan. After greasing, place your turnip cake mixture in it. Then cover with an aluminum foil before using medium heat to steam the cake. It should be done for 50-60 minutes.

This step is important because it helps to cook all the ingredients before pan-fried and ready for consumption.

Conclusion

You might have eaten other cakes from chocolate flavored cakes, vanilla flavored cakes, and carrot cakes to even usual cakes. But radish cake is a cake with a difference. It offers you astounding aroma, mouth-watery savory flavor, and spiciness.

Apart from taste and texture, radish also offers you several health benefits. It is low in fat, carbs, and calories; hence, keeping you fit whilst enjoying the taste. Radishes have been implicated with being nutritional and having several health benefits. Some of these include protecting liver function, preventing diabetes, preventing cell damage, and a host of other health benefits.

Radish cakes can be made for various occasions if you want. Yes! Instead of the usual fat cake, serve radish cakes instead. By doing so, you are doing them a healthy favor. They can be cut into any size and shape of your choice. So, go and serve it to visitors, family, and friends.

Today, take a bold step and try preparing radish cakes for your family. Add it to your family menu. It can be taken as breakfast with a glass of milk or even taken as brunch. Whichever time you intend to eat, radish cake is ever ready to please your taste buds.