Daikon Cake

Chai Tau Kueh is one of my fave food from home. Absolutely miss it.

It is made from daikon or white radish. It looks like carrot but white.

I remember asking Gan to get me some radish to make some chai tau kueh when I was at uni and he brought back some tiny red radish from sainsbury which was impossible to grate because they were so tiny. At least he didn't bring me back parsnips.

'Chai Tau' is also known as daikon. I don't know it that is a direct Japanese translation but at home we just call it white carrot.

I remember grandma and aunt used to make it at home whenever the big extended family come back for the hols. Chai Tau Kueh is one of those food that brings back many childhood memories. There is this chai tau kueh hawker in town that we often get our chai tau kueh from. Mum thinks it is too much hassle to make. So we normally buy it from the hawker man. His business is so good that you have to queue every single time. As a kid I love watching him frying the chai tau kueh. He does it so quickly and makes it look effortless. He must fry like 1000s of packets everyday. Amazing.

Saw some daikon at the market and it was on offer but only if you buy 2. I only got one because I don't want to be sick of daikon. It was still a bargain compared to the ones they sell in the supermarket.

So voila. The last time I made this it was too wet. I like my daikon cake to be quite firm. So this time I added a bit more rice flour and I think the consistency is right now. Yay!!!



Chai Tau Kueh

Ingredients

Group A
200 g rice flour
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt.

Group B
500 g shredded radish
1/2 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Group C
4-5 shallots sliced and fried crisps

1. Mix group A to make a watery batter.
2. Put group B in a covered saucepan and cook over low heat for 15 mins until radish becomes soft and liquid evaporates.
3. Add group C and then A to group B mixture. Stir and cook for 3 mins.
4. Pour into greased cake pan and steam for 45 mins or until cook.
5. Cool and keep till next day. Cut into cubes and fry with egg, garlic and dried radish.

Actually it is quite easy. The hardest bit is grating the daikon which took ages. Good exercise though. It didn't taste as nice as those from home but at least I satisfied my cravings.

Oh I saw a reindeer when I was volunteering at the Santa run yesterday.
A real reindeer!!! 3 more weeks to Christmas. Excitingness..