This savory turnip cake (sometimes called radish cake), or lo bak go in Cantonese, is a very traditional dish often served at dim sum houses, and when I was a kid, it always showed up on the table on Chinese New Year’s Day. As a result, it’s been etched in my mind as a wonderfully delicious tradition.
Having sampled versions of turnip cake at many dim sum restaurants over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that they can’t be compared to our homemade recipe. The restaurants definitely skimp on the filling ingredients, including the star of the dish, the Chinese turnip or daikon radish. Most of what you get is rice flour and starch.
To be fair, I do have to say that adding fewer filling ingredients makes the restaurant versions much smoother—almost like pudding, if you like that consistency. Also, the Chinese turnip is a very pungent vegetable that definitely falls into the love it or hate it category. For better or worse, everyone in the house will know when you’re cooking it!
The Chinese turnip, or lo bak, is a long, white vegetable with a green top. I’ve always been confused by this, but I believe they’re interchangeable with Japanese daikon radishes (they could very well be the same vegetable!). When choosing your turnip/radish, make sure they’re heavy. This means they have a high water content, which is an indication that they haven’t been sitting around too long. A good sized one is generally about 20 ounces, which is what this recipe calls for.
Read more about this Chinese radish or turnip and other Asian veggies on our Vegetables & Fungi ingredients page.
My sister Ginny is an expert at carrying on the family turnip cake tradition, and this recipe is adapted from the version she makes. She emphasizes that you should be able to clearly see and taste the turnip, and I wholeheartedly agree with her stance.
You can certainly make adjustments to the recipe…including the amount of sausage, turnip, mushrooms and scallion you add. You can also easily make a vegetarian/vegan version by eliminating the shrimp and sausage, and substituting a different dipping sauce for the oyster sauce.
NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU’RE BUYING THE CORRECT RICE FLOUR
This recipe calls for regular rice flour, that is, rice flour made from white rice. Do not buy glutinous rice flour, which is made with sticky rice (AKA sweet rice). If you use that, your lo bak go will be very gooey and not set properly.
We have gotten messages from readers who have also tried this with alternative rice flours—the recipe will not work the same. Make it as written!
WATCH:
Lo Bak Go: Recipe Instructions
Prepare your shrimp, mushrooms, Chinese sausage, and scallions. Soaking the shrimp and mushrooms in hot water will speed up hydration (it should take about 2 hours).
Grate the Chinese turnip/daikon radish. We just used the largest holes on a box grater.
Place your wok or large pan over medium heat. Add the oil, dried shrimp, rehydrated Chinese black mushrooms, and Chinese sausage. Stir-fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped scallion, and remove from the wok.
Add the grated radish/turnip and 1 cup water to the wok. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not brown. It will produce liquid, some of which will evaporate. You should have about 1 cup of liquid left in the wok with the radish.
In a large bowl, combine the rice flour and cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water. For a moister cake, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, for up to 1 cup total, depending on how moist/tender you like your lo bak go. If adding more than 1/2 cup of total water, add 1 additional tablespoon of cornstarch for every 1/4 cup additional water. (So it would be 1 tablespoon cornstarch if you added 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons for 3/4 cup water, or 3 tablespoons for 1 cup water). Cornstarch helps to bind the radish cake, counterbalancing any additional water you add to make a moister cake.
Debating lo bak go consistency
The consistency of lo bak go ranges from denser to almost pudding-like. We find that the lo bak go of many dim sum restaurants has this pudding-like texture, which you get by adding more water to the batter.
As an entire family (extended family included), we prefer the denser lo bak go, so we add 1/2 cup water. We feel that this consistency allows you to really taste the radish, and we like that it has more bite to it.
If you like it slightly softer, add 3/4 cup plus 1 additional tablespoon of cornstarch. If you like the pudding-like texture, add 1 cup water with 2 additional tablespoons of cornstarch.
Add this mixture to the radish in the wok, along with the salt, sugar, and white pepper.
Also add the cooked shrimp, mushrooms and sausage mixture, using a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining oil into the batter. Mix well. If you feel the batter is too thin at this point, turn the heat on to low to thicken the batter, stirring constantly. It should resemble thick pancake batter.
Brush a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 8-inch round pan liberally with oil. Transfer the batter to the pan and spread it evenly.
Below, you can see the batter in a loaf pan:
Or in a round cake pan:
Using a loaf pan will give you more uniform rectangular slices. A round cake pan can make steaming easier due to its shape, and it also cooks more quickly.
Place the pan into a steamer with plenty of water and steam over medium-high heat—50 minutes for a loaf pan or 40 minutes for the round pan. Poke the cake with a chopstick; if it comes out clean, the lo bak go is done.
See our post on how to set up a steamer if you’re not familiar with steaming foods in Chinese cooking.
Remove the pan from the steamer and let your turnip cake cool and set for 30 minutes. Once cooled, loosen the sides with a spatula and turn it out onto a cutting board. It should come out easily. (Covering and chilling the cake in the refrigerator will make turning the cake out and slicing even easier.)
Use a sharp knife dipped in water to slice ½-inch thick pieces. I know people who’d enjoy it just like that, but most people pan-fry them first. Add a couple tablespoons oil to a non-stick or seasoned cast iron pan over medium-low heat. Fry the cakes on both sides until golden and crispy.
Serve with oyster sauce! You could even serve it with chili oil or chili garlic sauce for spice fiends. It may not be traditional, but it’s tasty.
Makeahead/freezer Tips!
You can also make this turnip cake in advance, refrigerate it in the loaf pan, and slice/fry later.
If you’ve refrigerated turnip cakes that you’ve already fried, the best way to reheat them is in a pan. When reheating, heat the pan over medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Place the cakes in the pan, immediately add a couple tablespoons of water, and cover. Remove the cover when the water has evaporated, flip, and brown the other side.
You can also wrap the steamed cake tightly in plastic wrap or a freezer bag with the air squeezed out of it, and freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours, slice, and pan-fry. Freezing will affect the texture of the lo bak go, but it will still be tasty, and is a great way to store leftovers.
Final Thoughts
This was one of our earliest recipes, and probably one of the first recipes for lo bak go to hit the internet. Here are some answers/thoughts to some of the more common questions we’ve gotten over the years:
- If you’re wondering whether you can use fresh shiitake mushrooms, we actually don’t recommend it, as they release more liquid and aren’t as flavorful as dried mushrooms.
- As an alternative to Chinese sausage (lap cheong), you can use lap yuk (Cantonese cured pork belly—see Judy’s recipe here). You could also substitute dry cured ham or even bacon, but remember that the flavor of the cake will change.
- Daikon radishes are quite sweet during the late fall and winter months, so you can omit the sugar if you like. In the summer, they may be slightly bitter, making the sugar more necessary.
- Adding additional aromatics like garlic or ginger is not traditional here, as they may overpower the other flavors in the cake. That said, you can add them if you like—it’s your kitchen!
If you like this classic Chinese Radish Lo Bak Go, then you must try our Taro Cake – Wu Tou Go or our Carrot Rice Cake Luo Bo Gao recipes!
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Recipe
Turnip Cake (Chinese Lo Bak Go)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as vegetable, canola or avocado oil; plus more for brushing & pan-frying)
- 1 tablespoon dried shrimp (washed, soaked and chopped)
- 3-5 dried shiitake mushrooms (washed, soaked, and chopped)
- 1 Chinese sausage (diced)
- 1 scallion (chopped)
- 20 ounces daikon radish (grated)
- 1 to 2 cups water
- 1 1/4 cups rice flour (regular rice flour—not glutinous rice flour or brown rice flour)
- 1-3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- Oyster sauce (for dipping, optional)
Instructions
- Place your wok over medium heat. Add the oil, shrimp, mushrooms, and sausage, and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped scallion, and remove from the wok.
- Add the grated radish/turnip and 1 cup water to the wok. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not brown. It will produce liquid, some of which will evaporate. You should have about 1 cup of liquid left in the wok with the radish.
- In a bowl, combine the rice flour and cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water. For a moister cake, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, for up to 1 cup total, depending on how moist/tender you like your lo bak go. If adding more than 1/2 cup of total water, add 1 additional tablespoon of cornstarch for every 1/4 cup additional water. (So it would be 1 tablespoon cornstarch if you added 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons for 3/4 cup water, or 3 tablespoons for 1 cup water). Cornstarch helps to bind the radish cake, counterbalancing any additional water you add to make a moister cake.
- Also add the salt, sugar, white pepper, along with the cooked shrimp, mushrooms and sausage mixture, using a rubber spatula to scrape any remaining oil into the batter. Mix well. If you feel the batter is too thin at this point, turn the heat on low to thicken the batter, stirring constantly. It should resemble thick pancake batter.
- Brush a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 8-inch round pan liberally with oil. Transfer the batter to the pan and spread it evenly. Place the pan into a steamer with plenty of water and steam over medium-high heat—50 minutes for a loaf pan or 40 minutes for the round pan. Poke the cake with a chopstick; if it comes out clean, the lo bak go is done.
- Remove the pan from the steamer and let your turnip cake cool and set for 30 minutes Once cooled, loosen the sides with a spatula and turn it out onto a cutting board. It should come out easily. (Covering and chilling the cake in the refrigerator will make turning the cake out and slicing even easier.)
- Use a sharp knife dipped in water to slice ½-inch/1cm thick pieces. I know people who’d enjoy it just like that, but most people pan-fry the turnip cake first. Add a couple tablespoons oil to a non-stick or seasoned cast iron pan over medium heat. Fry the cakes on both sides until golden and crispy. Serve with oyster sauce!
Tips & Notes:
- You can make this turnip cake in advance, refrigerate it in the loaf pan for up to 3 days, and slice/fry later. You can also freeze the cooled cake in a freezer bag, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing and pan-frying.
- If you’ve refrigerated turnip cakes that you’ve already fried, the best way to reheat them is to re-fry them in a pan.
