A radish cake made fromwhole ricerather than flour, simple enough that a 10-cup rice cooker will give you something better in texture and aroma than anything you can buy. The texture here is judged well — not too soft. There is no MSG in it, so the flavour is entirelynatural, without that sharp MSG edge. It still feels satisfying and complete, and it is full of the old taste.
 
1. Grind the rice batter:
 
Rice 600 g

Water 600 g

 

Weigh the bowl first, or zero the scales. Rinse the rice, then top up with water to 600 g — so the two together come to 1200 g.

Use aged rice for radish cake, and soak it for at least 6 hours so the blender can grind it finely.

 
 
Before blending, keep back one small rice-cooker cup of the soaking water to rinse out the blender.
 
 
Tip the soaking water and the rice into the blender together.
 
 

 

Mine takes 2 minutes. Rub a little between your fingers — when it feels smooth, it is ready.

 

2. Cook the shredded radish:

 

White radish, rinsed, peeled and shredded 1700 g

Water 450 g

Cheng Chi shallot sauce 40 g

Sugar 35 g
Salt 20 g
White pepper 2 g
 
Bring the shredded radish, water and shallot sauce to the boil in a large wok,then add the seasoning and, once boiling again, keep it at a hard boil for 3–5 minutes before turning off the heat.(Use a wok of at least 35 cm, or there will be no room to stir once the batter goes in.)

 

 
 
 

 

 

3. Bring it together:

 

Pour the batter from the blender slowly into the boiling radish, stirring with a spatula as you go.

 

 

Rinse out what is left in the blender with the cup of water you kept back, pour that in slowly too, and keep stirring until it gelatinises into a thick white paste. If it cools too fast to gelatinise, put it back on a low heat and keep stirring until it does.

.

 

Add 57 g of Cheng Chi fried shallots — the part that matters, and you can see and smell why.

 

Mix through evenly with the spatula.

 

 

Pour into an oiled inner pot.

 

4. Steam in the rice cooker:

Put 2.5 cups of water in the outer pot; when it switches off, add another 2.5 cups. About 1–1.5 hours in total. Let it cool completely before turning it out. (2 rice-cooker cups twice is generally enough — adjust to your own cooker.)

 

 

Do not, whatever the temptation, turn it out and cut into it while it is hot. It only really sets once completely cool.

 

 

Brush with lard while hot, which slows the drying and hardening of the top as it cools.

 
 
 
Notes: 1. You can also fry the fried shallots and shallot sauce with the shredded radish first, and add more if you want a stronger aroma.
          2. Shred half the radish and blitz the other half in the blender for a finer texture.
          3. Chopped shiitake, dried shrimp or pork strips can be added for more flavour.
          4. If the outer pot of your rice cooker has no raised points to keep the inner pot off the base, use a trivet or some heatproof chopsticks. It heats more evenly that way.
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