Rev up for Chinese New Year!

The Year of the Pig is almost upon us. February 5th is the first day of the lunar new year, which means it's time to get some holiday food ready. 

Radish cakes are always at the top of my list. 

The English name is, admittedly, lousy. Chinese radishes are nothing like our little red jobs... this vegetable is big and juicy and white. 

Some people call them turnips, but don't let them fool you. These taste like radishes, but without the heat. 

Crispy exterior, creamy insides

Chinese and Korean radishes (luóbō) are best here, but daikon will do in a pinch. The main thing is that the tubers are fresh and sweet and heavy. Asian radishes are at their best in cold weather, so now is the time to buy them.

Be forewarned: radish cakes don't look or taste like cakes. Luóbō gāo is a savory steamed pudding, if I'm going to get all persnickety on you, and the interiors of these slabs turn fabulously creamy when the exterior is fried to a crisp. 

Most restaurants serve this as semi-cold slabs that have been sautéed on two sides. However, radish cakes  can be oh so much more delicious, for the perfect luóbō gāo is served as crunchy slices or nuggets. A nicely browned crust on every side serves to (barely) control the chaos inside: a molten rice lava spangled with bits of Chinese cured meats and mushrooms.

Juicy Korean radishes

A gentle taste of radishes hover in the background, with gravelly bits of sausage and mushroom spiking each bite. My recipe goes a bit wild with all the savory bits, but trust me, you want it this way!

The preparation takes a bit of time to explain, but you'll see down below that it is actually quite easy to put together. That being said, this is a bit of a time suck, so feel free to prep bits and pieces over a couple of days. You can also freeze the cooked puddings. Just defrost them thoroughly (overnight in the refrigerator is best) before slicing and frying.

Radish cakes

Luóbō gāo 蘿蔔糕

Guangdong cuisine

Makes 2 large loaves, serves 12 or more

Cut up some radish batons

Cakes:

¼ cup | 30 g dried shrimp

Boiling water

About 4 pounds | 2.5 kg very fresh Chinese or Korean radishes, or daikon

12 black Chinese mushrooms, soaked until plump

6-inch | 15-cm strip of Cantonese-style cured pork belly

2 Cantonese-style sweet sausages of any kind

About 6 ounces | 170 g shallots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons | 170 g regular rice flour (not sticky/sweet/glutinous rice flour)

Reserved cooled mushroom soaking water, plus more cool water as needed to make 1½ cups | 375 ml

Lots of freshly ground black pepper (at least 1 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons regular soy sauce

Fry-up and serving:

Cornstarch, as needed

Fry the charcuterie

Peanut or vegetable oil, as needed

Flaky sea salt (like Maldon), for garnish

Chopped scallions or cilantro, for garnish

1. Place the dried shrimp in a heatproof boil and cover with boiling water; let them plump up while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, and then drain and dice coarsely.

2. Trim and peel the radishes. Cut them up to make 2 cups | 275 g of batons (around ¼ inch | 5 mm on 2 sides, and no more than 1 inch | 2 cm long), and coarsely grate the rest. Remove and discard the stems from the mushrooms, and then chop the caps into ¼ inch | 5 mm pieces. If the cured meat and sausages are at all hard, steam them for around 10 minutes to soften them up; reserve any juices and add them to the batter later on. Remove and discard the skin from the pork belly, and then chop it as well as the sausages into very small pieces about the size of lentils. Finely chop the shallots and garlic. 

Rice flour, but not the sticky kind

3. Measure the rice flour into a medium work bowl, and then stir in the water to form a thin batter. Line the bottom of 2 large loaf pans with parchment paper so that the sides extend above the top. Grease both the paper and the insides of the pans. If you are not using a bamboo steamer basket, wrap the lid with a kitchen towel so that moisture doesn't drip back into the cake while it steams.

4. Place the chopped cured meats in a cold wok and fry them over medium heat so that the fat is rendered as the meat cooks. Once the fat is translucent, add the diced shrimp, mushrooms, shallots and garlic, and stir-fry them over medium-high heat until the mushrooms have shrunk down and started to brown a little bit. Scoop the meat mixture out of the wok and into a work bowl.

5. Turn the heat under the wok to high. Add all of the radish shreds and batons to the wok. Sprinkle the black pepper over the radishes, and then cook them, tossing occasionally, until quite a lot of liquid forms at the bottom of the wok and the radishes are completely cooked but not at all mushy. Toss the meat mixture in with the cooked radishes, reserving, if you like, a few tablespoons of the meaty crumbles as decoration later on. Taste the radish-meat mixture and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

The steamed pudding

6. Remove the wok from the heat and stir the thin batter into the cooked radishes. Gently toss the radish with the batter off of the heat so that the bottom does not scorch. After about 30 seconds, the residual heat in the wok should cook the batter enough so that it starts to thicken. When everything is completely combined, scrape into the prepared pans. Sprinkle on the optional reserved meat mixture, and then use the parchment paper ends to compact the mixture and smooth down the top.

7. Heat a few inches of water under your steamer until it comes to a full boil. Either position the pans on a large trivet and cover them with the wrapped lid, or place the pans in covered bamboo steamer baskets. (You may need to steam the pans separately if your steamer is not large enough.) Steam the pudding for around 90 minutes to 2 hours, replenishing the water as needed, but otherwise not opening the lid, as this will help to cook it evenly. Test to ensure it is completely done through by inserting a paring knife into the center; it should come out clean. Remove the pans from the steamer and allow them to come to room temperature before covering the pans with plastic wrap and refrigerating.

... and then fry it up

8. To serve, slice the chilled pudding into either 1-inch | 2-cm cubes or into 1-inch | 2-cm thick slices. Coat them completely in cornstarch and shake off any excess. Prepare a serving platter by the stove and cover it with a few sheets of parchment or tempura paper. Heat about ¼ inch | 5 mm of oil over medium-high heat in the bottom of a flat-bottomed pan until a pinch of cornstarch immediately foams and subsides, and then add the dusted cubes to the hot oil piece by piece. Fry them all over, adding more oil as needed. When they are a golden brown, remove to the platter. Serve hot sprinkled with sea salt and fresh cilantro and/or chopped scallions. A dipping sauce may be prepared, but is not necessary. 

Lemon crunch cake for the Lunar New Year

I grew up in the San Jose area, and if there is one dish we San Joseans can call our own, it’s burnt almond cake. I have no idea why this is such a big deal there. 

A couple of local bakeries—namely Dick’s and Peter’s—now lay claim to the best of the best of the best, but in my memory, the champion cake was made by Greenlee’s.

This has a lot to do with hometown pride and neighborliness, for the Greenlee family lived a couple of houses down from my mother’s parent’s house in the Rose Garden District, right near the Rosicrucian Museum. 

A pile of gold

My mom’s family never was rolling in wealth (to put it mildly), so we rarely got to eat bakery goods. And so, it was cause for celebration whenever we actually found a paper bakery box hanging out in Grandma’s kitchen.

My favorite cake was always burnt almond, which is strange, because in all other areas I was a die-hard chocoholic. 

Something about this cake, though, was totally addictive to me: pure white cake sandwiched the custard filling, and then the outside plastered with buttercream and sugared, sliced, toasted almonds. Nothing about it was burnt, but it was sheer heaven, false advertising notwithstanding.

The start of caramelization

I was wondering lately whether I should make this cake for a trip down memory lane, but I can’t handle super sweet cakes anymore. So, I crossed those old memories with a Chinese preference for dialed-back sweetness to make something suitable for the Lunar New Year. 

I ended up with a Taiwan-style lemon chiffon cake as the base. What makes this really Taiwanese is that I added the absolute minimum sugar I thought I could get away with both there and in the fresh cream frosting. And then instead of the custard filling, we have more whipped cream. 

The result is this super light, lemony bit of fluff covered with crispy caramel shards. My husband even gave it the perfect Chinese name, which means “10,000 taels of gold,” turning this into a wish for wealth for all who get a slice. Sounds good to me...

Candy lava

In many ways, this is like the famous Blum’s coffee crunch cake. Which is wonderful, no question. With this lemon crunch cake, though, I can easily eat half of it in one go and still eye the rest of it with eager plans for it later on in the day.

This would be the perfect cake for Chinese New Year, which is coming up on February 15^th this year. Happy Year of the Dog!

Lemon crunch cake chez Huang

Huángjiā huángjīn wànliăng dàngāo 黃家黃金萬兩蛋糕

Serves 6 to 8

Break up the candy into shards

Candy:

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

¾ cup | 150 g sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Cake:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons | 70 g cake flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon sea salt

4 large egg whites at room temperature

½ cup | 100 g superfine sugar, divided in half

3 large egg yolks at room temperature

Fresh lemon zest

¼ cup | 60 ml flavorless oil, like canola

6 tablespoons | 90 ml water

Zest of 2 lemons

1 tablespoon lemon extract

Frosting:

2 cups | 450 ml chilled whipping cream

2 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 teaspoons lemon extract

1. First make the candy: Have a baking sheet lined with either Silpat or oiled foil ready. Sift the baking soda to remove all the lumps and set it near your stove. Place the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a clean wok and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring it occasionally with a silicone spatula. Boil it for a few minutes until it starts to caramelize, then swirl the syrup around and wait until it is a faint golden color. 

Lighten the batter with the whites

2. Remove the wok from the heat, wait 10 seconds, and then sprinkle the baking soda over the top of the syrup. When you stir these together, they will foam up into an impressive mound of lava, and once it starts to deflate, scrape all of it quickly and efficiently onto the waiting baking sheet. Use your spatula to smear it out into a thin layer. It will harden in just a few seconds, so don’t get distracted while you are doing this. Once the candy has hardened, break it up into small shards, but not crumbs. Pile the candy into a container, put on the lid, and refrigerate it until just before serving. Soak the wok and spatula to remove the candy residue.

2. Now get ready to make the cake. Set a rack just below the center of your oven and heat it to 350°F | 175°C. Line the bottom of an 8-inch | 20-cm tall springform cake pan with parchment paper—you don’t need to cut the paper into a circle, just clamp it onto the bottom of the pan. Do not oil the cake pan.

A super light chiffon cake

3. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small work bowl. Use a stand or hand mixer to beat the egg whites until they are foamy, and then sprinkle in half of the sugar before beating them until they are stiff but not dry. Scrape the beaten whites into a clean bowl. In the same mixer, beat the yolks until they are light, and then beat in the rest of the sugar and then the oil, water, zest, and extract. Finally, beat in the flour mixture until the batter is smooth.

4. Fold about a third of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it up, and then carefully fold in the rest of the whites until you don’t see more than a few streaks. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, gently smooth the top, and slide this into the oven. Bake it for around 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Take the pan from the oven and invert it onto a cake rake to help prevent it from deflating. When the cake is completely cool, unlock the pan to release the sides and peel off the paper. The cake can be wrapped in plastic at this point and refrigerated for a few days, or even frozen for longer storage.

Dust the center with more shards

5. An hour or so before serving, whip the cream with a stand or hand mixer until you have soft peaks, add the sugar and extract, and then beat the cream until it is stiff.

6. Cut the cake horizontally in half with a bread knife. Spread about a quarter of the cream on the cut surface, sprinkle on the smaller shards and all the candy dust, and replace the top of the cake. Frost the tops and sides with the rest of the cream. Press the remaining candy evenly into the tops and sides of the cake. Serve cold.

Variations on a Suzhou theme

So, last Friday we had the basic recipe for Suzhou-style year cakes. Here are four absolutely stunning variations on that basic theme. 

Also, please be sure to check out that other post I did the same day with lots of menu suggestions for Chinese New Year, which starts on February 8 and continues for two weeks. Fourteen days are a whole lot of reasons for dining well, so take advantage of this well-deserved reprieve from whatever diet you're on. 

A Daiso gift bag

I have to tell you, we just delivered some of these traditional Suzhou sweets to Chinese friends, and they flipped out. The reasons are simple: you can't find them anywhere unless they're homemade, and they are just plain delicious. 

If you're are going to divvy up your bounty (and the tightness of my jeans pretty much demands that this be done in my house), wrap up each slab in plastic wrap and then stick them in a fancy bag. 

I get the ones at Daiso (the Japanese dime store) that have fractured English on them, like the one on the right. I love that place to pieces. And how can you argue with the logic of "with the delicious cake which I made heartily, have happy time"? It says it all.

A fabulous alternative to the simple cornstarch coating I suggested in the previous recipe is an egg batter. Here's the easy recipe for that, as well as those variations I promised:

Egg batter for year cakes

 

4 large eggs

½ cup all-purpose flour, or as needed

Oil for frying

White sugar for sprinkling, optional

1. Slice the rice cake into thick strips, and then cut each strip widthwise into ½-inch pieces. Mix together the eggs and as much flour as needed to make a thin batter.

2. Heat about ¼ inch of oil in a flat skillet over medium high heat until a bit of the batter dropped into pan immediately sizzles. Dip each slice of rice cake into the batter so that it is lightly coated. Arrange as many of the slices in the pan as will fit without touching, and fry on both sides until golden. Repeat with the rest. Serve immediately as is, or with a sprinkle of sugar.

 

Black sesame year cakes

Hēimá niángāo 黑麻年糕

1. Add 1¼ cups ground toasted black sesame seeds to Step 1 and proceed with the rest of the recipe. You’ll end up with a deliciously ebony sweet that has the toasty nuttiness of sesame.

2. If you want to toast and grind your own sesame seeds, see Step 3 in this recipe. Pulverize small amounts of the cooled seeds in a spice grinder or blender so that they don’t turn into sesame paste.

Year cakes with red bean filling

Dòushā niángāo 豆沙年糕

1. First prepare the filling: Pour 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil into a wok or frying pan set over medium heat before adding about a generous 1 cup red bean paste (about a 15 oz/430g can) and ¼ teaspoon sea salt if you want less of a sweet edge to the filling. Use a silicone spatula to stir the paste around, scraping the bottom often, until it absorbs all of the oil. Remove the bean paste to a bowl and let it cool down completely so that it keeps its shape easily.

2. Next, wrap this bean paste in the dough: In Step 4 of the basic recipe, use a lightly oiled rolling pin to roll the dough out on an oiled surface into a large rectangle about 5 inches wide and 18 inches long. Place the red bean paste evenly down the center of the dough and pinch the edges of the dough closed around the bean paste. Pat the filled paste into an even rectangle as directed above. This makes a much larger cake than the other variations, so trim off about 3 inches from each end for yourself, and then cut the pretty middle section crosswise into 4 even pieces for giving away as gifts or serving to guests. A handful of chopped toasted walnuts or pine nuts, or even chopped cooked chestnuts, can be added to the filling, if you like.

Unexpectedly sensuous

3. As for the red bean paste, the Japanese brand Ogura-an is quite good and has a nice, chunky texture, but use what you like, and of course homemade is always wonderful. Whatever you use, the bean paste will fry up deliciously crispy and serve as a textural counterpoint to the soft and chewy rice paste.

Brown sugar and walnut year cakes

Hēitaáng hétáo niángāo 黑糖核桃年糕

Use dark brown sugar instead of white sugar in the basic recipe. Reserve 4 pretty halves from 1 cup walnut halves and pieces as decorations, and then lightly crush the rest of the nuts. Pulse these lightly into the dough in Step 3 so that you end up with walnut pieces no larger than ½ inch across. Proceed with the rest of the recipe and decorate the top of each finished cake by pressing a toasted walnut half into its center. 

Better than candy

Walnut and rose year cakes

Hétáo méiguí niángāo 核桃玫瑰年糕

1. Toast 1 cup walnut halves and pieces. Reserve 4 pretty halves as decorations, and then pulse the rest of the nuts, 1 tablespoon rose water (or to taste), and optional 2 drops red food coloring lightly into the dough in Step 3 so that you end up with walnut pieces no larger than ½ inch across. 

2. Proceed with the rest of the recipe and decorate the top of each finished cake by pressing a toasted walnut half into its center. Be sure and use white sugar for this recipe if you add the optional red food coloring.