Stir Fried turnip cake (Chai Tow Kway)

 

Everyone is familiar with steamed  turnip cake or radish cake. Have you ever tried stir-fried radish cakes or Chai Tow Kway?  Chai Tow Kway is a common dim sum of Teochew cuisine. It is also popular in Singapore and Malaysia.

Why is Chai Tow Kway called radish cake? In the Hokkien dialect, chai tow means “radish “, while kway means “rice cake”. The dish was originally from Southern China, and Teochew immigrants brought it to Singapore in the late 19th century.

You can prepare your own radish cake, cut it into pieces, and fry it till golden on all sides if you want. Alternatively, some people buy ready-made radish cakes and cut them into pieces. A higher radish-to-flour ratio is possible when making your own radish cake, which is also quite satisfying. 

A hawker stall will ask you whether you want black or white chai tow kway when you order it.  The black version has a sweeter black sauce while the White version has chilli. I don't use the sweeter black sauce in my recipe, and it incorporates preserved radish, which is quite salty. I first sauté the garlic and preserved radish until fragrant, add the fried radish cake, drizzle with soy sauce, and stir-fry until the aroma of preserved radish is released.  I then add the eggs, chives or spring onions, and bean sprouts, and stir-fry until fragrant. It is somewhat like scrambled eggs, just that with radish cake in it.

Steamed radish cake is very soft when it is hot. It must cool down and harden before it can be cut or fired. So, I will keep the cool radish cake in the refrigerator and fry it the next day.

The steamed radish cake's texture is essential to the flavour of chai tow kway. The ratio of flour to water is crucial. I'm mixing rice flour, corn flour, and wheat starch to make the batter.

The consisency of the radish cake after it is fried depends on the consistency of the thickened batter. The fried radish cake will be too hard if the batter is too thick. The fried radish cake will be mushy if the batter is overly thin. I want my steamed radish cake to have the right texture. I'll weigh the pot and its contents before and after steaming, which should be reduced by 100g in weight. You can add more water as needed or get rid of extra liquid.

I am making a big batch of chai tow kway. I steamed my radish cake in 2 different sizes of cake pans, which are 12” x 12” and 8” x 8”.

 

INGREDIENTS

(For radish cake)

750g grated white radish

1440g water

450g rice flour

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tbsp wheat starch

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cooking oil

660g water

 

(For chai tow kway)

8 eggs, whisk thoroughly with 6 tsp light soy sauce

300g bean sprouts, add more as you like

50g chopped chives or spring onion, add more as you like

60g minced preserved radish, soak with water to get rid of some saltiness taste

Some sliced chili

1 head garlic, peeled and minced

4 tbsp soy sauce

 

METHOD

1. Put grated radishes in a pot. Add 1440g of water into the pot. Weigh the pot together with the contents inside the pot both before and after steaming. Over high heat, bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer, and cover until the radish is soft. Shut off the heat. After removing the cover, wait for roughly 10 minutes until the evaporation stops. Weigh the pot and its contents once more; there should be 100g less in weight. If more water is required, add it; otherwise, remove any extra.

 

2. Combine all types of flour, salt, oil, and 660g water in a wok. To the flour mixture, add the radish water from step 1.  Cook over medium-low heat and stirring often until the batter is creamy. Add the radish that has been cooked. As the batter thickens, keep cooking and stirring with low heat. Add cooked radish, continue cooking and stirring, and reduce heat to low as the batter thicken. Pour the batter into a 12” x 12” and an 8” x 8” cake pan. Lever and smooth the top. Steamed for 30 – 40 minutes. Remove the radish cake from the stove, leave it cool and refrigerate overnight.

3. Cut the steamed radish cake into small cube size pieces.

4. Add some cooking oil to a flat bottom pan, heat the pan, add the cut radish cakes, and cook over high heat until golden brown on all sides. Add more cooking oil as necessary.

5. Once the cooking oil in a deep bottom wok is hot, add the preserved radish and garlic, and sauté until fragrant. Add in the fried radish cake, once the preserved radish and garlic are well combined with the fried radish cake. Pour soy sauce over the fried radish cake and stir until the aroma of preserved radish is released. Add more cooking oil as necessary. Stir thoroughly after adding the chopped chives and thinly sliced chillies.

6. Pour the beaten eggs into the fried radish cake, when the bottom of the eggs is golden brown, flip them over. Add the bean sprouts and toss until they are well-cooked but not wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your personal preference. If the chai tow kway tastes too bland or too salty, add some sugar or a few drops of soy sauce. You may sprinkle some spring onions on the chai tow kway at this point.

7. ENJOY with chili sauce or sambal.