Daikon Cakes Recipe Trial

When I was a kid, my mom would sometimes bring back Lo Bak Go (or daikon cake) from Chinatown. She would cut the round steamed cake into squares that she then fried with a little bit of oil in a skillet. Crispy on the outside, tender in the inside, I would always devour these in a matter of minutes.

I really wanted to recreate this cake because it is savoury and rich in flavours, but not vegan. Usually, dried shrimps and Chinese sausages are part of the mix. I had already tried to make some, but it is a long process: you have to prepare the dough, steam it, cool it down, and then fry it up. Way too long for Tuesday night.

So when I saw this video from Cooking with Dog, I was really excited and I wanted to try it out. However, they too use shrimps. So I changed it up a little bit.

Here is what I used:

• 600g daikon radish (make sure you choose one that is white, as the green ones have a very pungent flavour)
• 200 g rice flour
• 200 g glutinous rice flour (mochiko)
• 6 king oyster mushrooms
• 6 shiitake mushrooms with the stems
• 3 green onion stalks
• salt, pepper to taste
• sesame oil
• water

Following Francis’ instructions, you grate (or put in your food processor) the daikon radish. Then, instead of working on the shrimps, I pulsed the mushrooms and green onions and stir-fried them with sesame oil. For the rest, I followed the instructions.

The patties are waiting.

I used sesame oil to pan fry them.

Ready to serve!

The result is a crispy daikon cake that is reminiscent of the original one. The shiitake mushroom stems really give a lot of texture and remind me of the shrimps. The inside of the cake is not as tender as the steamed version, but this is a lot quicker to make.

As a sauce, I like to eat turnip cake with some tamari (or soy sauce) mixed with a little bit of sriracha hot sauce: very simple, yet effective!

Overall, I have to say that I am happy with this recipe as it is quick, has a lot of flavour and is easy to bring with you as lunch. However, I have yet to find something quite as good as what my mom prepared for me as a kid.

Let me know if you have your own version of Lo Bak Go! 🙂