Fried White Radish Cake with Prawns

The yearning for fried radish cake is overwhelming again but the problem is in getting fresh radish. The kind available here is of a smaller version but hey, that will have to do. Beggars cannot be choosers. A radish is a radish regardless of the shape and size.

I have never cooked and am not exactly keen on the white version of radish cake but hmmmmmmm, why ever not try experimenting?

I am trying to reproduce this from memory so please advice if I am wrong. Many thanks.

Ingredients:
1. Cooked radish cake, portion for one, sliced lengthwise.
2. Three pieces preserved radish or more, depending on taste, chopped into small pieces.
3. One egg beaten well with a teaspoon of water.
4. One stalk of spring onion, finely sliced.
5. Two cloves of garlic, roughly sliced.
6. Three tablespoons of lard, onion oil or oil of your choice.
7. Eight pieces of medium sized cooked prawns, more/less according to taste.


Method:
1. Medium heat, when pan is hot, add lard, when lard is hot, add sliced up white radish cake.
2. When it's heated through (and optionally cut up into smaller pieces in the pan), push to side of pan. Add preserved radish and when preserved radish starts to 'pop' around, add garlic. When garlic is aromatic without browning, mix mixture well together.
3. Increase heat, add prawns to fried radish cake, stir well and pour egg over mixture. Leave it for a few seconds before flipping cake over. You may need to add more oil around edges of mixture before flipping over. Let mixture set for a few seconds.
4. Garnish with sliced spring onions and serve hot.

Note: No seasoning added as the preserved radish I have in stock was very salty.

Braised Duck Tongues

With fermented chilli bean paste
Normal braised


My first experience in appreciating duck tongues was at Lei Garden Restaurant, Orchard Shopping Centre, Singapore.

I am a glutton and very adventurous in experimenting with food. I have been in love with this dish ever since. Fortunately it was a good experience and duck tongues, if available on the menu, was a must order for me.

Unfortunately, the same restaurant and many others have yet to be at par with my first experience in terms of taste and texture. That had formed a yardstick in concert with my own cooked version against those served when dining out.

My worst experience in eating duck tongues was in London, the smell was a real put off.

In one of the famous hotels back in Singapore, the chef agreed with my findings, apologized, rescinded the order but served us complimentary double boiled soup of the day. I offered to pay for the substituted dish as the price differed greatly but the Manager refused as they were extremely appreciative of my diplomacy and constructive criticism without being rude.

I was happy with the end result of my dish as most served outside are unbearably salty to the extent of not being edible for me.

The success of this recipe is due to the many contributions by forerunners from Makansutra on other braised dishes, namely Eslim - http://www.makansutra.com/forums/singapore/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=16 and Tiantianchi - and a few others. Apologies if I have not mentioned you. Due credit shall be accorded if I remember later or please do remind me. Many thanks.

Ready for braising

Stock ready for adding duck tongues

Duck tongues simmering away gently
End result


Ingredients:

1. One packet of frozen duck tongues (More than 100 pieces in a packet)
2. Two tablespoons of black sesame oil
3. Two tablespoons of vegetable oil
4. One or two pieces of fermented bean curd - red or white
5. A few slices of ginger, sliced into rings for blanching duck tongues
6. One small piece galangal or blue ginger, lightly bruised if available
7. A few whole garlic cloves, skin removed
8. Half a Spanish onion, sliced into quarters
9. One star anis, a few pieces of cloves and a cinnamon stick
10. A few stalks of spring onions, halved lengthwise and lightly bruised the white stems
11. One teaspoon of 5 spice powder
12. Two whole chillies (optional)
13. One teaspoon of brown sugar
14. Black soya sauce
15. Oyster sauce
16. Salt, if necessary
17. One small cube of rock sugar
18. Splash of Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chew

To Prepare Duck Tongues
1, Defrost, wash and rinse well.
2. In a small pot, add cold water and ginger slices. Water level about an inch above duck tongues. Bring to a boil. Cook duck tongues for about two minutes or till scum froths on the surface.
This is very important in order to get rid of the blood, impurities and 'smell'. Remove from heat immediately, strain, rinse and wash in plenty of cold water. Make sure duck tongues are very cold. Set aside.

To prepare the Sauce or 'Lor'
1. Medium heat, add oil, brown galangal or ginger slices and whole garlic, fry till fragrant, add star anis, cloves, cinnamon stick and 5 spice powder, stir gently till aromatic.
2. Add onions, spring onions, coriander roots, chillies if used, and fry gently for about two minutes without browning onions. Add fermented bean curd, smear into rest of ingredients for a minute.
3. Lower flame, add brown sugar, mix ingredients well till sugar caramelised.
4. Add dark soya and oyster sauces, fry gently for about a minute.
5. Increase flame to high, splash Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chew and stir ingredients together.
6. Add water (amount is just slightly below duck tongues) and rock sugar into stock, stir, bring to a boil and leave it to simmer gently for about 30 minutes or more. Be patient as this is paramount to the success of the duck tongues since it does not take long to cook the tongues. Best is to cook the sauce or 'lor' overnight and to add duck tongues the next day. Adjust seasoning accordingly.

To Cook the Duck Tongues
1. Bring sauce slowly back to a boil. If sauce is too watery, take a few tablespoons of sauce into a small bowl, when cold, stir in about ¾ tablespoon corn/potato flour, mix well before drizzle gently into sauce. Give it a good stir.
2. Taste stock and adjust seasoning according to your taste.
3. On medium heat, add few stalks of fresh coriander and duck tongues.
Cook for about five minutes and increase heat to high for balance of next five minutes. Stir gently occasionally. Sauce will adhere somewhat to duck tongues on high heat and sauce thickens. Lower heat, if necessary.
4. Taste a piece of duck tongue. I like it with a bite. Prolong simmering if you prefer a softer yield.
5. Serve immediately.

Second Version
On very gentle heat, add fermented chilli bean paste in a small frying pan with sesame oil. When it's aromatic, increase heat, add warm water (just enough to cover duck tongues ) into pan, mix well. When sauce is reduced by half, increase heat, stir in cooked duck tongue to warm through. Serve immediately.

Third Version
It's very yummy deep fried too.

Note:
1. The recipe given is not exact in measurements. You need to adjust according to your own palate.
2. Amount of water just enough to cover duck tongues is determined by the quantity you are cooking. Estimate when you are rinsing the blanched duck tongues. *One way to estimate how much water will be required is, once you have finished rinsing the tongues, put them in a dish similar to the one you will use to cook the sauce and pour in the requisite amount. Then save it till needed
3. Do not discard the precious sauce. Freeze for cooking other ingredients of your choice. Strain sauce before freezing.
4. It's very addictive. I can eat about 40 pieces in one sitting. :))

White Radish Cake (Basic)

I had never thought of making Cai Teow Kueh due to the lack of mandatory ingredients like rice flour and cai por. Since it is now quite easily available (about a total driving time of five hours including toll charges of S$20) there is no reason not to try it out to satisfy one's cravings.
Final product
Radish puree
Pork lard added
Cooked mixture
Cover with cheese cloth before steaming
Cooked radish cake

This is Gina's recipe from Kitchen Capers. Gina, thanks for sharing.
http://www.kitchencapers.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=779&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Read more tips in cooking the mixture from Gina's Forum.


Ingredients:
1 kg white radish
600 g Chinese Rice flour
6 cups hot water
1 tsp Alkaline Water (you can get this from Phoon Huat or shops selling baking items)
1 tsp salt

Method:
1. Shred radish and steam on high heat for 30 minutes.
2. Add flour and water, salt and alkaline water to mix.
3. Put it over low heat to boil.
4. Stir continuously till dry and sticky.
5. Turn off the stove and pour mix into a large square pan lined with glass paper.
6. Steam on high heat for 45 minutes
7. Wait for it to cool completely before slicing it.

===============
My Method:
1. I have incorporated a tablespoon of pork lard into the mixture before steaming based from my one off experience in making chwee kueh.
2. The shredded radish was brought to the boil instead of steaming with just enough water to cover and simmered gently for about five minutes. Strain, save the juices and puree ¾ of radish in a blender till smooth. Use the juice as part of water content to be added to the mixture. Mix unblended and pureed radish to the mixture.
3. Alkaline water was not used due to lack of availability but I improvised with a teaspoon of potato flour
4. To serve see link for Fried White Radish Cake

Fried White Radish Cake (Cai Teow Kueh)

I am trying to replicate this dish from memory based on my observations back home in Singapore at the hawker centres. I hope it will help you along.
Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.
A platter of sin without Chilli
Yet another platter of sin with Chilli






Ingredients:
1. Radish cake, sliced or bite size pieces. Amount depends on how hungry you are.
2. An egg - optional
3. Cai por, finely minced, optional
4. Light soya sauce, if required
5. Chilli sauce - optional
6. Spring onions, finely sliced, amount depending on taste
7. Pork lard, vegetable oil or oil of your choice
8. One clove or more garlic - roughly chopped
9. Black sweet sauce, amount depending on taste

Method:
1. Pork lard was used to fry up this dish with minced cai por. For healthier version, use vegetable oil. Fry the radish cake first and when heated through over high heat, fry cai por. When cai por 'pop' around, add garlic, fry till aromatic. Do not burn garlic.
Mix well and cut cakes into smaller pieces if desired.
2. If using an egg, crack and beat egg lightly. Spread over cake and mix well.
3. Amount of sauces if used, are accordingly to your taste.
4. The only sauce needed for my version was sweet sauce or Ketjap Manis (black sweet sauce) as the cai por I have in stock was very salty indeed thus light soya sauce was not necessary.
5. I appreciate eating this dish by using toothpicks especially the tiny weeny bits and the surprise findings of garlic and cai poh amidst the kueh.

Radish Cake

The common food back home is all the more delicious when shared amongst families and friends. It's priceless when one is able to fulfill someone's yearning by producing a home made version.



I cooked this in Doha without incorporating dried mushrooms and caramelized onions into the mixture.



Ingredients including dried mushrooms and caramelized onions


Shredded radish (Some were sliced as I like to be able to discern pieces of radish during eating for extra texture)


Cooked mixture

Texture BEFORE steaming

Cover with cheese cloth before steaming

Texture AFTER steaming


Pan fried



I cannot remember whose recipe this is but I shall give due credit when I check up later.

Quote:
Ingredients:
1. 907g shredded white radish (strained)
2. 750ml water
3, 76g Chinese sausage, chopped finely
4. 38g dried shrimps, soaked, roasted and chopped finely
5. 3 tsp salt
6. 1 tbsp sugar
7. 2 tsp sesame oil
8. Pepper

For garnish: 6 shallots, sliced thinly and fried till crispy
Spring onions

Method:

Mix the following together to make batter
a. 340g rice flour
b. 2 tbsp tapioca flour
c. 600ml water

Combine radish, fried shrimp, sausages, and water in a saucepan and simmer over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

1. Lower heat and add batter, stir until mixture thickens.
2. Pour the thickened mixture to a tray and steam at high heat for ½ hour (smoothen surface with either the back of the spoon or spatula.
3. Test, if not cooked; continue cooking for a further 10 minutes.
Cool thoroughly before cutting. Garnish with dried shallots and spring onions.

Unquote:

Special thanks to Gina from Kitchen Capers for a good tip to cover radish cake with a cheese cloth before steaming.

Note for radish cake made on Saturday, June 28th 2008:
1. Colour of radish cake was brownish (first photo) as I had added dried mushrooms and caramelized onions into the mixture.
2. I love eating them with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.
3. Baby leeks were used as I didn't have any spring onions nor coriander leaves for garnishing.

Siew Mai

Method:
1. Boil enough water to steam the siew mai.
2. Once water comes to a rapid boil, place frozen siew mai on a plate and place in steamer.
3. Steam according to instructions on package and serve hot.

Note:
1. If you do not have a steamer. Place a metal rack in the pot tall enough that the plate does not touch the water.
2. Either method, I prefer adding an extra five minutes to the steaming time to ensure centre of meat is piping hot.

Guo Tie Jiao

They were flipped over after cooking for about ten minutes. See water has started to evaporate.




There was a talk about good Guo Tie in Makansutra. Folks like us living in different continents are deprived of authentic fresh food and are lucky if we are able to access frozen types.
With this in mind, I couldn't resist the temptation of getting a package when out on a trip to Seville a few days ago.

There are different methods of cooking from frozen but this is my style.

Method:
1. Add just enough cold water to cover Guo Tie in a non stick pan. Bring to a boil.
2. Add a tablespoon of vegetable/corn oil or oil of your choice to the boiling water and desired amount of Guo Tie to be consumed.
3. Spread Guo Tie out in pan. Let it boil. Shake the pan gently once in a while to prevent sticking or use a chopstick/ladle.
4. Between five to seven minutes of cooking, turn Guo Tie over. You may need to add more hot water if it dries up too quickly without heating through.
5. Be careful at this stage, as it will splatter when the Guo Tie starts to brown once the water has evaporated. You may want to consider using an oil splatter.
6. Lower heat to medium and turn Guo Tie for even browning.
7 Serve with Chin Kiang Vinegar with shredded young ginger if you have in stock.

This brand is good enough to eat on its own without any condiments but I enjoy eating it with some chilli sauce.

Chwee Kueh

The yearning for chwee kueh was overwhelming and when I realised a mistake had been made over the rice flour in the larder I was over the moon.

The inspiration came from a recipe posted by San Choo from SWA and challenged me to the task of attempting to make the chye poh immediately.

My sister brought over a packet of preserved radish from Singapore thus there wasn't a reason to procrastinate any further.

As this is my first attempt in making chwee kueh, I am clueless in how the consistency of the cooked mixtures should look like and hope the photographs help you along should you like to try it out.
I opted for table salt and onion oil to incorporate into the mixture, minus the chicken stock. Mix gently with one cup of water first followed by rest of liquid requirement.
Potato flour was used as I didn’t have any corn flour.
The heat to cook the mixture was increased slightly to one notch from low heat during the cooking process as it took too long for the mixture to thicken.
Flat stainless dishes were used as I didn't have the correct moulds.
The smaller dish was steamed before the mixture was poured in. I have a problem in removing them from the dish after cooking.
It was easier to retrieve the second dish which was oiled very lightly before the mixture was poured in.

==============
Tips from Sarinxr and San Choo from SWA, Singapore Women Association:
1. Use silicon muffin trays as suggested by Sarinxr. Chwee kueh can come out easily even without lining it with oil.
2. As per San Choo, pre-steaming means heating the empty moulds by steam before filling them. He thought that this step can be omitted but found that heating the moulds in advance (which does make it a little fiddly to handle them when filling with the rice flour mix) does help in making the chwee kueh come out more easily.

==============

Chye Poh Toppings













San Choo's Friend recipe

Recipe from San Choo's friend
Ingredients:
1 cup of rice flour
2¼ cup/550 ml of water (room temperature)
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp lard or oil
A pinch of salt
A large pinch of chicken stock powder (optional)

Method:
1 Mix the rice flour and corn flour well with water
2. Add salt and oil, and chicken stock powder if using
3. Stir the mixture over low heat till the mixture thickens. Keep stirring to prevent lumps.
4. Pre-steam the moulds for 5 minutes
5. Pour the mixture into the moulds and steam for 10-15 minutes

Chye Poh toppings:
Ingredients:
8-12 tbsp Chye Poh (dried preserved radish) - depending on how much you like Chye Poh!
½ - 1 tsp sugar (optional)
¼ Cup/60 ml of lard or oil
2 cloves of garlic

Method:
1. Soak the chye poh to wash/remove the salt and drain dry.
2. Heat lard or oil in pan
3. Fry chopped garlic until it turns golden, and then remove because only the flavoured oil is needed.
4. Add in the chye poh and fry over a low heat
5. Add sugar if using
6. Transfer to a smaller pot to simmer the chye poh in the oil over very low low heat until it is required.

=========================


This is my version for the Chye Poh Toppings:

1. One tsp toasted sesame seeds
2. Sufficient vegetable oil to cover preserved salted radish.
3. Six cloves or garlic or more depending on taste. Lightly bruised but leave garlic whole.
4. 150g preserved salted radish, washed and drained on colander.
5. One tablespoon or more of Kikkoman light soya sauce.
6. Half a teaspoon or more of Cheong Chan Caramel Sauce to enrich the colour of the chye poh.
7. Dash of white pepper.
8. One teaspoon of demerra sugar.

Method:
1. Toast the sesame seeds till fragrant and brown without burning.
2. On medium heat in a small pot, add oil and brown garlic till golden. Set garlic aside.
3. Add rest of ingredients except for the toasted sesame seeds. Mix well
4. Cook gently for about thirty minutes
5. Stir bottom of pan periodically to prevent burning.
6. After about thirty minutes, taste radish and adjust seasoning. Add toasted sesame seeds and continue to cook for another five minutes.

Note:
a. If possible use lard for the ultimate taste.
b. Do not discard the garlic once they are golden brown as it's good to eat on its own or grind to a paste for a salad dressing. Or simply add to caramelized onions for future recipes.
c. To save time, toast more sesame seeds than you need for this recipe as they keep very well in an air tight container or zip lock bag and can be used at a later date.