Turnip cake

Radish cake, also known as turnip cake or chai tow kway, is a special dish from Chinese cooking. It is made from steamed rice flour mixed with shredded daikon radish. People often enjoy it as part of dim sum, a style of Chinese dining.

In Singapore, this dish is sometimes called carrot cake, but it is not related to the European kind of carrot cake. It is a popular part of Cantonese and Teochew cooking, especially when eating yum cha. The cake can be served either steamed or pan-fried. The pan-fried version has a crispy outside and a soft inside, while the steamed one is soft all the way through.

This tasty dish is commonly found in many places, including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as in Chinatown restaurants around the world. In Southeast Asia, it is often cut into small cubes and stir-fried with other ingredients, making it a versatile and loved dish. It is usually enjoyed with a soya-oyster dipping sauce.

Names

In Chinese, radish cake is called luóbo gāo (蘿蔔糕) in Mandarin Chinese, lòbaahk gōu (蘿蔔糕) in Cantonese, and chhài-thâu-ké (菜頭粿) in Hokkien. This last name is where the English term "chai tow kway" comes from, commonly used in Southeast Asia.

The word luóbo (蘿蔔) means daikon radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus), and gāo (糕) is a broad term for "cake" that includes many types of cakes, loaves, and pastes, whether sweet or savoury, like nian gao. In Hakka, it is known as lò-phe̍t-pán (蘿蔔粄) or chhoi-thèu-pán (菜頭粄), where the suffix pán (粄) refers to snacks or cakes made from glutinous rice flour.

Even though the turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa) is different from a radish, the English name "turnip cake" likely came about because white daikon radishes were not well known outside East and Southeast Asia. People used the name "turnip" because it looks similar.

In Chinese, carrots are often called "red radish." This led to the name "carrot cake" in Singapore and Malaysia for the radish cake, even though it has nothing to do with the sweet European carrot cake. This mistake in naming inspired a popular 2010 guidebook about Singapore's street food called There's No Carrot in Carrot Cake by Ruth Wan, Roger Hiew and Leslie Tay.

Background

In Taiwan, a story from the 17th century explains why this dish is popular during the Lunar New Year. When Taiwan was taken over, a leader named Zhu Shugui gave his land to local farmers before he passed away. To show thanks, the farmers and their families secretly visited his grave with offerings, including radish cakes, on special days like his birthday and the Lunar New Year. This tradition continued until the end of Qing rule in 1895, and since then, eating radish cakes has become common all over Taiwan.

In Hong Kong, people think radishes are linked to the Lunar New Year because they are cheaper and taste better in winter.

In Singapore, the dish came from Teochew immigrants. Originally, it was called "bí-ko" or "ko-kóe" and was made only from rice flour. Later, a hawker named Ng Soik Theng added radish to the cakes in the 1960s and called them "chai tow kway." Another hawker, Lau Goh, became famous for making a version with light soya sauce in the 1970s.

Preparation

To make radish cake, you start by shredding daikon roots. These roots, either the white-and-green kind or the all-white kind, are a main ingredient in the cake. Other important ingredients are water and rice flour. Sometimes corn starch is added to help hold the cake together, especially when more ingredients are included.

You can also add extra flavors like diced or minced dried shrimp, dried shiitake, Chinese sausage, or Jinhua ham. These might be stir-fried before mixing them into the radish and flour or starch.

Next, the mixture is poured into a steamer lined with greased aluminum foil or cellophane and steamed on high heat for 40 to 60 minutes until it becomes a soft, jelly-like material.

Radish cake is often cut into big rectangular pieces. It can be steamed and then fried. When served as chai tow kway, it is steamed and then stir-fried with eggs, preserved radish, and other seasonings. It is usually topped with spring onions. In some places, it is wrapped in a banana leaf and eaten with a bamboo skewer.

Variations

Radish cakes can be enjoyed plain with soya sauce, but they are often cooked again to add more flavor. For example, they can be sliced and pan-fried until golden brown on both sides. They are then served with chili sauce and/or hoisin sauce as condiments.

In Cantonese dim sum restaurants, radish cake is soft and sometimes filled with other ingredients. Taiwanese radish cake is firmer and has fewer added ingredients.

Radish cake can also be stir-fried to make a dish called chai tow kway. In Singapore, it is usually cut into pieces and stir-fried with eggs, garlic, spring onions, and sometimes shrimp. There are two types: the "white" version uses light soya sauce and/or fish sauce, with the cake fried on top of a beaten egg to form a crust; the "black" version uses sweet dark soya sauce, and the egg is mixed into the cake. Sometimes, the cake and ingredients are cooked together as a large omelette or pancake.

In Singapore and Johor in southern Malaysia, where Teochew people live, the cake is fried with chopped preserved daikon, diced garlic, eggs, and Chinese fish sauce instead of soya sauce. Spring onions are added just before serving. Further north in places like Kuala Lumpur, the dish is darker because of dark soya sauce, and bean sprouts are added. In Penang, this darker version is called char koay kak.

Taro cakes are similar to radish cakes. Some recipes use taro or rice flour instead of radish, especially for those who are allergic to radishes. In these cases, turnip can be used instead of radish.

Cultural significance

In Taiwan, radish cake is often eaten during the Lunar New Year because the word for radish sounds like "good fortune" in the Hokkien language. It is also a popular dish for the Chinese New Year among Cantonese people, as the word for the cake sounds like a wish for rising prosperity.

The dish is enjoyed in Singapore and Malaysia by many people, including Teochews. It is a favorite comfort food and can be eaten at different times of the day, from breakfast to a late-night snack. Many well-known people also enjoy this dish.