From a Chinese-American kid’s perspective, Chinese New Year is a holiday as cool as, or even better than, Christmas. You get lots of red envelopes full of money, big boxes and tins of candy, and big meals for at least 3 to 5 days straight. You don’t have to pretend to like any of the re-gifts or fruitcake you receive. And if your mother has free time, which she somehow always finds during the New Year, she’ll whip up batches of snacks for you to eat and to give to relatives.
One of these snacks, eaten all year round but especially during the New Year, is turnip cake. It symbolizes prosperity and growing fortunes, but a kid’s main concern is how good something tastes. (Even many years later, turnip cake is one of the first foods I associate with Chinese New Year.) Although this is a staple on dim sum menus, no restaurant turnip cake compares to the homemade version, which bares the aroma of just-cooked mushrooms and pork even days after it’s made.
To make this recipe you’ll need a firm white Chinese turnip about 10 to 12 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide. Instead of grating the turnip like many recipes say, my mother slices it into thin strips to be cooked. This gives the cake a firmer texture that holds together better during pan-frying. And the Chinese never eat the whole cake at once; usually we eat a few pieces after the cake has just been steamed, then tightly wrap the rest in plastic and refrigerate. We then pan-fry the rest for breakfast or when friends and relatives come to visit.
Speaking of the New Year, I will be spending the next few days in Guangzhou, my birthplace. My family and I will have New Year’s Eve dinnner (Tuun neen) with my uncle’s family, and then dinner on New Year’s day with my dad’s best friend’s family. The last time I spent New Year’s in Guangzhou was 1988, so it will be interesting to see all the festivities, firecrackers, and the famous Flower Street. To everyone celebrating the Lunar New Year, 新年快乐！
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Other Cantonese recipes to try:
Wonton Noodle Soup, Hong Kong-Style
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Turnip Cakes (Law Bok Gow)
3 1/4 cups rice flour
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 ounces dried shrimp
6 ounces Chinese bacon (lop yok) or Chinese sausage
1 large Chinese white turnip, about 2 pounds
3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice cooking wine
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Special equipment: Mandolin, 10-inch cake pan, large wok (with lid) that is bigger than the cake pan
1. In a large heatproof bowl, combine the rice flour and 2 cups of water. Mix well until the mixture is smooth and velvety, and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, soak the shiitake mushrooms in about 1/2 cup of cold water for 10 to 15 minutes to soften. In a separate small bowl, do the same with the dried shrimp.
3. Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a small pot. Place the Chinese bacon in the pot and cook for 3 to 4 minutes to soften. Remove from heat and pat to dry. Finely chop and set aside.
4. Once the shiitakes are done soaking, remove from water, sqeeze out excess water, finely chop, and set aside. Remove shrimp from water, finely chop, and set aside.
5. Peel the turnip, and with a mandoline, slice into 2 cm thick slices. Then cut slices into strips about 2 cm thick. Set aside.
6. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok. Add shrimp and mushrooms and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the cooking wine and soy sauce and stir until the shrimp and mushrooms are well-coated. Add the Chinese bacon, cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside.
7. In the same wok, toss in the turnip strips and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, adding a bit more cooking oil if necessary. Then pour in 1 cup water, cover the wok, and let the turnip steam for 10 to 15 minutes until just cooked.
8. Pour the hot turnip mixture into the bowl with the rice flour mixture and mix thoroughly, until the turnips are well-incorporated into the mixture. Add the bacon, shrimp, mushrooms, and salt. Stir until evenly distributed. Pour the resulting mixture into a round 10-inch cake pan and smooth out the top.
9. Steaming: Bring water to boil in a large wok big enough to fit the cake pan. Carefully fit the cake pan into the steamer, cover, reduce the heat to a simmer. Steam for 1 hour, or just until the turnip cake is set and is firm to the touch. Check the water level regularly and replenish, if necessary, with boiling water. Carefully remove the pan from the steamer and allow to cool on a rack for about 1 hour.
10. When cooled, run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen sides. Invert to unmold and flip the cake right-side up onto a cutting board. Slice the cake into rectagles 1-inch thick. You can serve the turnip cake as-is and sliced, or wrap the cake in plastic and refrigerate until ready to stir-fry.
11. Optional stir-frying: Heat a medium to large skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to barely cover the bottom and fry the cake in batches, about 3 to 5 minutes per side until golden brown. Serve immediately plain or with oyster sauce, soy sauce, or chilli sauce.
Anytime I have dimsum with anyone, they are always on the look out for the cart of law bok gow cause they know I LOVE this! Law mai fan is another one I love in dimsum!
Just an update…lately my site had some problems with spam, and with 1 or 2 legit comments getting accidentally deleted. These issues have been fixed, but unfortunately I was unable to retrieve the deleted comments. I apologize for this issue, but I love hearing from my readers, so keep posting! :)
wow, i’m so glad i found your site. i’ve always wondered how this was made and has always heard its too complicated to make. this is also one of my most fav dishes growing up. i’ll have to try this out soon. thx!
Is it possible to use only a teaspoon oil in the process? I’m adopting a low fat lifestyle and one of the reason I choose to make carrot cake myself is because i can monitor the amount of fat used.. I want minimum fat added in the making so that it is healthy. But will that compromise the result? Can someone advise?
Napkin, instead of stirfrying the mix, you could use a little oil to first cook the bacon, then use water to steam cook the shrimp and mushrooms. The result would be a slightly less fragrant mixture, but if you’re worried about oil intake it would be worth it to try.
I always wanted to make this for my bf..but always thought it was too hard and troublesome..but..it doesn’t sound so hard from your recipe!! so..I’m gonna try it tomorrow after buying those ingredients. I love your blogs!!!!! I’ll be visiting often for yum yum recipes..they all look so great!!! thankyou!!!
I made a batch of these last night and steamed it for almost an hour and a half, and still in a liquified state? Do I just need to steam it longer? I used a glass baking dish, but I wasn’t sure if that would have made that much of a difference? Any help would be great! Thanks!
The Smiths – What type of flour did you use?
Do you use white rice flour? Would brown rice flour work?
Cathy – I used white rice flour…have never tried brown, though it seems like the more earthy brown rice taste might be odd in the turnip cake.
I’m making it now, and I noticed a discrepency from the ingredients list and directions. The list says sugar, but the instructions say add salt.
Which one is it?
thanks!
Cathy – Salt. Sorry about that. Recipe fixed!
Happy new year to you and your family! How fun to be able to celebrate it with your extended family in GZ. Gong Xi Fa Cai!
I love, love, looove turnip cake. Def will try to make it this weekend to celebrate!!.
Gon Xi Fa Cai!!
heidileon
Recipe sounds fantastic! Which type of rice flour did you use? The red package or the green package? Thanks!
There are 2 diffrent rice flour in our Asian market I know they are for different thing… which one do you use?
angel – Well, rice flour packages differ from region to region, so color of package alone won’t help. Do the packages have English, or can you take a photo of the Chinese characters?
Beautiful blog. I don t know Chinese kitchen (and I am either chinese nor American) but I liked the way how you have written the recipes. Beautiful page. Thanks
This came out better than when my mom makes it. I’ve made three trays one weekend and had my sisters over and finished it all!
One of my best friends is Chinese American and introduced me to turnip cakes about 10 years ago. Her mother also cooked for me and I’m addicted. (it was Chinese New Year and we also went to a family association dinner)
I am quite a sight in Chinatown here in NYC.
The old women are so happy to give me their best recipes for dishes w/ingredients like bitter melon, long beans…but they NEVER, EVER give up the goods on turnip cake.
Thank you so much.
I usually order it from a reliable place in town, but if I can make ‘em myself and surprise my pal when she comes for a visit, that’s even better.
I perfected my chicken feet, so the next thing is sesame balls. (seriously my fave thing)
Thanks again!
Great recipe.
I am trying to make it now. But I’ve realize that 3,5cups doesn’t equal 400g when I was measuring the flour. so should I go by cup or g?
thanks,
sucha
pls help, i tried the recipe, but my cake came up too sticky. as a matter of fact i cant even cut it. what went wring? pls help
Hey, I tried this recipe and my cake took forever to get firm when steaming. I think 31/4 cups of rice flour is way way to much. I think 2 cups in perfect. Also the thick slices of turnip make the cake lumpy, shredding it give it more of a mixed cake texture and helps the mix steam way faster . Thanks for the recipe though! I substituted the meat with carrots. :)
Delicious!
Thank you so much for posting! I only visit my mom about once a month now and she had never had the time to teach me how to make it!
Hi, I know I’m a bit late for the Chinese New Year but I did this cake 2 days ago and it turned out successfully (I was a bit afraid by reading in the comments that some cakes didn’t firm up), really flavorful ! I’m glad to have chosen your recipe to do it. But mine was somewhat brownish in comparison to yours, I think its because the seasonings melted with the flour mixture. Is it possible to put the mixed ingredients directly in the pan and then pour over the flour mixture to avoid such a colouring ?
I also wanted to ask you if it may be frozen, as I am the only one who really likes chinese food at home, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to have turnip cake for each meal the whole week long…
Anyway, thanks for sharing your great recipes ! I hope you’ll also keep posting on your other site too. All the best !
French Asian food lover – I’m glad you liked the recipe! As for pouring the ingredients directly into the pan, you can do it, but the ingredients won’t be as evenly distributed. Try to mix it around at least a little in the pan so you won’t have all the bacon, shrimp, and mushrooms on top.
Hi, thanks for the quick reply ! I will follow your tip next time I’ll do it. I apologize for questioning you again, but what about freezing the cake ?
Do you mean before steaming the turnip cake or after? I’ve never tried freezing the uncooked cake before, but have refrigerated it for 1 to 2 days before steaming and it came out fine. If you do try freezing the cake, let me know how it goes!
Hi Diana,
I ran out of rice flour(粘米粉) half way and I substituted with glutinous rice flour(糯米粉). The result was bad, the cake turned to to be liquidy inside even though I steamed until the flour is completely cooked. Lesson learned I guess. Great recipe nonetheless.
Another suggestion I have is to post flour measurement using weight instead of volume. The fact that flour can be compressed greatly throws off the accuracy of measurement.
Leo Z
Hi,
Is it possible to make the turnip cakes by baking instead of steaming?
Regards,
Christina
Christina – I’ve actually never tried baking this. I imagine it would turn out pretty hard; the turnip cake relies on moisture from the steaming for its texture.
Thank you for this recipe so much! I made it for a Asian New Year celebration and not a slice was left. I, too, had to increase the steaming time. Think I steamed it an extra 30 minutes. This could be due to differences in moisture content from the turnip or perhaps differences in BTUs of the gas top. Still it came out wonderfully. I would also suggest gently leveling the top of the batter down with a piece of plastic wrap before steaming. My test cake had a few air holes at the bottom which disappeared after “patting” it for the second cake. I saved a few slices for self and will take the plunge and try to freeze them. I’ll report back in a few months on how it came out texture wise and such.
Hi Diana,
Thank you so much for your blog… and particularly this recipe. Law Bok Gow was something my mom always made for us. Since her passing, I like to make this recipe as it a reminder of all those times she would make it for us (my brother and I). Now, I make it for my brother and I… thank you!
BTW, does law bok gow freeze well? It would be great if I can freeze some, if I make it when my brother isn’t visiting.
Amy
Hi, I finally tried freezing the cake after steaming (because I had a lot leftover). Yesterday I stir-fried some slices after 1 hour thawing at room temperature. The flavour was good, but the texture was a bit dryish and the elements didn’t blend so well as before. Next time I think I’ll thaw it completely in the fridge before stir-frying (as for some asian dumplings), but I’m pretty satisfied with the result. Anyway, thanks for having paid attention to my concern !
HP
Diana, I am now a huge fan! I needed to find out how to make th scallion pancakes and found your site…….I love the photo presentation. That’s what makes you different and your recipes easier to follow! I now follow you on twitter and Facebook ! Plus I’ve emailed myself all these recipes !
Thank you for your time and efforts.