Daikon Pudding 菜頭粿
The Daikon Pudding (I have used the Japanese name, ‘daikon’, rather than ‘Chinese radish’ or its various Chinese names, since ‘daikon’ is now the common name for this vegetable in most western countries) is a popular savoury pudding served during the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in the Chinese households, especially those from or descendants of South-Eastern China, as this pudding originates from Fujian (Hokkien) and Guangdong (Canton) Provinces. It is known as chai-tao-kuih (菜頭粿) in Teochew and Hokkien dialects, or loh-bak-go (蘿蔔糕) in Cantonese. In the Teochew/Hokkien dialects, daikon is ‘chai-tao 菜頭’ which rhymes with ‘rising fortune 彩頭’, therefore this pudding has become a symbol of prosperity for the Chinese.
The Cantonese version of the pudding is slightly different from the Teochew/Hokkien version in that Cantonese added extra ingredients like preserved meats and Chinese mushrooms in their puddings making them more substantial and flavourful; whereas the Teochew/Hokkien version is more subtle. Whichever versions you prefer, they are both usually cut into thin slices and pan-fry before serving. However in South East Asia, Teochew/Hokkien descendants serve this pudding in a different way, by stir-frying the steamed pudding with a variety of ingredients. I tried to find out how this came about and the closest I could come to as an explanation seems to be that the Teochew have a traditional stir-fried rice pudding (炒糕粿 or simply known as 炒粿) dish. My guess is that instead of the rice pudding, South East Asians use the Teochew/Hokkien daikon pudding instead to stir-fry the dish…… How’s that for my theory, hey? Hehehe… (If anyone do know anything about the history/development of this pudding in South East Asia, any inputs would be appreciated – for example, does anyone from outside of South East Asia stir-fry their Daikon Pudding?)
This is my version of the South East Asian styled Stir-Fried Daikon Pudding. There are two versions, one white (plain coloured), the other dark in colour. I personally have not tasted the white version, so I cannot comment on that. However the dark version is one of my favourite savoury snacks. This version is an adaptation of a recipe I hand-copied off a cookbook I borrowed quite a few years ago, unfortunately I did not note down the name of the cookbook or the author at that time, so it remains a mystery to me today. I have made a few changes to the original recipe – for example including dried shrimps and shallot in the pudding itself to provide a more flavourful pudding; and also reducing the liquid content to make the pudding slightly firmer as I found the original recipe of the pudding was too soft for my taste.
A note about the stir-frying part, lard is recommended as that is the traditional fat for stir-frying this pudding because lard gives it that special flavour that other fats/oils cannot compare (unless you have health concern that prevents you from consuming lard). In my opinion, it is worth it since I do not eat/make this very often, the most probably only two or three times a year, so might as well make the most of it. Lastly, since this steamed pudding is meant to be stir-fried with other ingredients before serving, the seasoning for the pudding itself is very mild – so if you want to serve the pudding simply by pan-frying only, serve them with soy sauce and/or chilli sauce.
[Ingredients]
Daikon Pudding:
500g daikon (Chinese white radish 蘿蔔), finely grated
125ml (1/2 cup) water
40ml (2 tablespoons) canola or corn oil
25g (2 tablespoons) dried shrimps 蝦米, soaked then pounded, reserve soaking liquid
1 shallot 紅蔥頭, peeled & sliced
A:
500ml (2 cups) water, include reserved dried shrimps soaking liquid
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
dash ground white pepper
B:
(Slowly pour water into rice flour and corn starch and mix into a batter)
360g (3 cups) rice flour 粘米粉
120g (1 cup) corn starch
625ml (2 1/2 cups) water
For Stir-Frying:
(Seasoning here is just a guide, please adjust to your taste)
lard for stir-frying
250g steamed daikon pudding, about 4 pieces of 8cm x 8cm x 1cm-piece
2 eggs
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, or to taste
1 - 2 clove(s) garlic
2 teaspoons kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce 晒油、甜醬油膏), or to taste
1 tablespoon chilli sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon salted preserved radish (‘chaipo’ in Chines Hokkien 菜脯), chopped
1 - 2 stalks green (spring) onion, chopped
dash ground white pepper
fresh chillies for garnishing (optional)
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
To steam Daikon Pudding:
1. Put grated daikon and water in a saucepan and boil over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the daikon is soft. Remove and set aside, include all the liquid.
2. Heat a large saucepan, add oil and stir-fry the sliced shallot over medium heat until golden in colour. Add in pounded shrimps and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Add in Ingredients (A) and bring to a boil.
3. Add in cooked daikon from step (1). Slowly pour in ingredients (B), stirring all the time, until the batter thickened. Remove and pour into a lined cake tin, level surface.
4. Steam over medium heat for about 1 hour, or until cooked through (test with a bamboo skewer). Remove and let cool completely – then chill, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to be used, it can be kept for one week in the refrigerator.
To stir-fry Daikon Pudding:
5. Heat a little lard in a wok and pan-fry the daikon pudding pieces until lightly brown and crisp on the outside. Push the pudding pieces to one side of the wok, add a little more lard and break in the eggs, scramble and mix in the pudding pieces. Add dark soy sauce, mix well.
6. Push the pudding pieces and scrambled egg to the side of the wok again, add more lard and fry the chopped garlic briefly, add kecap manis, chilli sauce, preserved radish and green onion. Mix in the pudding pieces, and use spatula to chop the pudding into bite-size pieces, stir-fry briefly to mix well. Add ground white pepper and dish into serving plate, garnish with fresh chillies if desired.
[Variation]
Pan-Fried Daikon Pudding – serve them with soy sauce and/or chilli sauce as desired.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.
The Cantonese version of the pudding is slightly different from the Teochew/Hokkien version in that Cantonese added extra ingredients like preserved meats and Chinese mushrooms in their puddings making them more substantial and flavourful; whereas the Teochew/Hokkien version is more subtle. Whichever versions you prefer, they are both usually cut into thin slices and pan-fry before serving. However in South East Asia, Teochew/Hokkien descendants serve this pudding in a different way, by stir-frying the steamed pudding with a variety of ingredients. I tried to find out how this came about and the closest I could come to as an explanation seems to be that the Teochew have a traditional stir-fried rice pudding (炒糕粿 or simply known as 炒粿) dish. My guess is that instead of the rice pudding, South East Asians use the Teochew/Hokkien daikon pudding instead to stir-fry the dish…… How’s that for my theory, hey? Hehehe… (If anyone do know anything about the history/development of this pudding in South East Asia, any inputs would be appreciated – for example, does anyone from outside of South East Asia stir-fry their Daikon Pudding?)
This is my version of the South East Asian styled Stir-Fried Daikon Pudding. There are two versions, one white (plain coloured), the other dark in colour. I personally have not tasted the white version, so I cannot comment on that. However the dark version is one of my favourite savoury snacks. This version is an adaptation of a recipe I hand-copied off a cookbook I borrowed quite a few years ago, unfortunately I did not note down the name of the cookbook or the author at that time, so it remains a mystery to me today. I have made a few changes to the original recipe – for example including dried shrimps and shallot in the pudding itself to provide a more flavourful pudding; and also reducing the liquid content to make the pudding slightly firmer as I found the original recipe of the pudding was too soft for my taste.
A note about the stir-frying part, lard is recommended as that is the traditional fat for stir-frying this pudding because lard gives it that special flavour that other fats/oils cannot compare (unless you have health concern that prevents you from consuming lard). In my opinion, it is worth it since I do not eat/make this very often, the most probably only two or three times a year, so might as well make the most of it. Lastly, since this steamed pudding is meant to be stir-fried with other ingredients before serving, the seasoning for the pudding itself is very mild – so if you want to serve the pudding simply by pan-frying only, serve them with soy sauce and/or chilli sauce.
[Ingredients]
Daikon Pudding:
500g daikon (Chinese white radish 蘿蔔), finely grated
125ml (1/2 cup) water
40ml (2 tablespoons) canola or corn oil
25g (2 tablespoons) dried shrimps 蝦米, soaked then pounded, reserve soaking liquid
1 shallot 紅蔥頭, peeled & sliced
A:
500ml (2 cups) water, include reserved dried shrimps soaking liquid
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
dash ground white pepper
B:
(Slowly pour water into rice flour and corn starch and mix into a batter)
360g (3 cups) rice flour 粘米粉
120g (1 cup) corn starch
625ml (2 1/2 cups) water
For Stir-Frying:
(Seasoning here is just a guide, please adjust to your taste)
lard for stir-frying
250g steamed daikon pudding, about 4 pieces of 8cm x 8cm x 1cm-piece
2 eggs
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, or to taste
1 - 2 clove(s) garlic
2 teaspoons kecap manis (thick sweet soy sauce 晒油、甜醬油膏), or to taste
1 tablespoon chilli sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon salted preserved radish (‘chaipo’ in Chines Hokkien 菜脯), chopped
1 - 2 stalks green (spring) onion, chopped
dash ground white pepper
fresh chillies for garnishing (optional)
http://cafeoftheeast.blogspot.com/
[Preparation]
To steam Daikon Pudding:
1. Put grated daikon and water in a saucepan and boil over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the daikon is soft. Remove and set aside, include all the liquid.
2. Heat a large saucepan, add oil and stir-fry the sliced shallot over medium heat until golden in colour. Add in pounded shrimps and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Add in Ingredients (A) and bring to a boil.
3. Add in cooked daikon from step (1). Slowly pour in ingredients (B), stirring all the time, until the batter thickened. Remove and pour into a lined cake tin, level surface.
4. Steam over medium heat for about 1 hour, or until cooked through (test with a bamboo skewer). Remove and let cool completely – then chill, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to be used, it can be kept for one week in the refrigerator.
To stir-fry Daikon Pudding:
5. Heat a little lard in a wok and pan-fry the daikon pudding pieces until lightly brown and crisp on the outside. Push the pudding pieces to one side of the wok, add a little more lard and break in the eggs, scramble and mix in the pudding pieces. Add dark soy sauce, mix well.
6. Push the pudding pieces and scrambled egg to the side of the wok again, add more lard and fry the chopped garlic briefly, add kecap manis, chilli sauce, preserved radish and green onion. Mix in the pudding pieces, and use spatula to chop the pudding into bite-size pieces, stir-fry briefly to mix well. Add ground white pepper and dish into serving plate, garnish with fresh chillies if desired.
[Variation]
Pan-Fried Daikon Pudding – serve them with soy sauce and/or chilli sauce as desired.
[Note]
1. Please note this recipe uses 1 standard cup of 250ml, 1 tablespoon of 20ml and 1 teaspoon of 5ml.
2. The size of egg used is about 60g (includes shell) unless otherwise stated.
posted by SeaDragon @ 27.5.05
4 Comments:
Dear SeaDragon,
Thank you so much for the information! I was finally able to read this article ^^!! Your 菜頭粿 looks so delicious and the method seems simple enough. I'll probably try it this weekend. Thanks again!
Anna,
No worries, you're welcome...
Your recipe is very good.I was crazing for it for quite some time. Made it yesterday. Served it for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. It was declicious and light.Love it
Thanks, glad to hear you like the recipe. Hope it did cure your craving :)
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