How To Make Lo Bak Go (Dim Sum Turnip Cake)

This popular Chinese dim sum dish is a must-try. The tender savory steamed cake is filled with flavorful tidbits and pan-fried to perfection.

I remember the middle-age man who rode on his motorcycle with a large rectangle shape crate securely position on the passenger seat passed by our neighborhood calling out “kue kue” (means cake, but not the sweet cakes as you imagine)before dinner time almost everyday selling lots of savory snacks. We would wave and called “kue kue” too and he would stop in front of our house. He would open up his crate and in there you would see all these delicious food siu mai, cheung fun (steamed rice rolls), jian dui (sesame balls), savory daikon/radish cake, and many other typically seen dim sum items. Lo Bak Go is one of my favorites. His version is actually deep-fried. We call this Kue Lobak in Indonesia and Lo Bak Go in Cantonese.

If you make this at home, you will soon learn that homemade lo bak go or kue lobak is truly the best. I love lo bak go with distinguishing daikon taste and aroma and you can usually achieve this at home or when you dine at restaurants which have a great dim sum.

Steamed and after cooled down

Most of the store-bought ones usually have more flour and less daikon taste, which is suitable for stir-frying, but I like this steamed version and then pan-fried. The pan-frying creates this thin golden crust on the outside.

This is an easy and pretty fool-proof recipe that mom gave me and I’ve made it several times since. I thought I was in heaven when I had this for breakfast two days in a row !!!! I will definitely be making this again very soon.

Kue lobak / Chai tow kway (Chinese savory daikon / turnip cake)

5 from 2 votes

Made of rice flour and daikon/radish/turnip and studded with dried shrimp, Chinese sausage and then steamed and pan-fried.

**The recipe is written in Metric and sometimes I include U.S. Measurements**

Please weigh ingredients with a digital kitchen scale instead of using measuring cups as they are not very accurate especially when it comes to recipe that requires precision.

INGREDIENTS

• 300 gr rice flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 450 ml water
• 2 Tbsp cooking oil
• 5 shallots - peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic - peeled and finely chopped
• 50 gr dried shrimps - soaked in water and finely chopped
• 2 links of Chinese sausage - remove the casing and finely chopped
• 500 gr peeled and shredded daikon/radish
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder

Chili sauce:

• 10 red chili
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

• Combine the rice flour and 450 ml of water. Stir into smooth batter
• Preheat wok/skillet. Add in cooking oil. Saute shallots, garlic and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the dried shrimp and saute for another minute. Add Chinese sausage and cook for another 1 minute until fragrant. Add in the shredded daikon and stir fry for another minute
• Meanwhile, get your steamer ready on high heat. Give the flour mixture a stir and then pour into the wok/skillet and continue to stir until mixture started to thicken. Remove from the heat. Pour the mixture into a 8"x 6" greased heat-proof dish. This is a very thick batter. Use the back of a spoon to press the batter down into the dish. Pack it down as much as you can. This is an important step so that your cake won't get "holes" here and there. Steam cake for 1 hour.
• At the end of cooking time, It may still appear to be soft and wet. Don't panic, let it cool down completely (about 4 hours or so) before attempting to cut into slices. It will firm up nicely for you.
• You can serve as is or put a bit of oil in a non-stick pan and then pan-fry the cake before serving. Serve with chili sauce on the side

Preparing chili sauce:

• Place all the ingredients for chili sauce in food processor and process into a paste. It supposed to be spicy and a little bit tangy

Tried this recipe? I would love to see it!Tag @WhatToCookToday and hashtag #WhatToCookToday

You can make Singapore fried carrot cake with this recipe too, though usually the carrot cake used for that is not loaded with tidbits like Chinese sausage and dried shrimp :