Savory Taro Cake

Savory turnip cakes, savory taro cakes, and sweet glutinous rice cakes are often made for Chinese New Year. "Cake" sound as "high" or "tall" in Cantonese and carries the good meaning of "growing"… kids growing tall, adults growing in their career, etc.

Ingredients:

• 1 large taro root, ~2.5 lbs.
• 1 package of white rice flour - 1 lb.
• 3/4 tbsp + 3/4 tbsp salt
• 1-1/4 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 4 cups + 2 cups water
• 8-10 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 oz. dried shrimp
• 5 oz. Chinese bacon (lap yuk) 臘肉
• 4 sticks of Chinese sausage (lap cheong) 臘腸
• 4 sticks of Taiwanese style Chinese sweet sausage 台灣臘腸

Topping:

• Roasted seasame
• Finely chopped green onion
• Finely chopped cilantro

Instructions:

1. Wash, then soak dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water, cover plate to speed up the hydration process
2. Wearing gloves, peel then dice taro into approximate 1/2" cubues -- touching taro with your bare hands will most likely make them itchy! I learned the hard way!
3. Bring diced taro, 4 cups of water and 3/4 tbsp salt to a boil in a pot. Remove from heat.
4. Finely dice Chinese bacon and two types of Chinese sausages into approximate 1/4" cubes
5. Wash, then soak dried shrimp in hot water in bowl for ~5 minutes; remove shrimp from bowl and save liquid for later use.
6. Remove dried shiitake mushrooms from hot water and dice into 1/4" cubes. Save liquid for later use.
7. Heat up a little bit of oil in wok or skillet, stir fry diced shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, Chinese bacon, and two types of Chinese sausages with 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine until fragrant and mixture is hot.
8. Add stir fried mixture into slightly cooled pot with taro (that already has 4 cups of water and 3/4 tbsp salt in it). Add in additional 2 cups water (combine previously saved mushroom water and dried shrimp water, add additional water if needed to make 2 cups), 3/4 tbsp salt, and 1-1/4 tsp sugar. Mix well.
9. Add white rice flour to pot and stir until smooth. Consistency should resemble that of rice pudding. Tip: If mixture is too runny, add more rice flour; if it's too thick, add more water.
10. Oil sides of heat-proof round containers. Pour batter into heat-proof round containers.
11. Bring water to a boil over high heat in a large steamer. Place containers into steamer, cover and reduce heat to medium-low, and steam for 1 hour. Smaller containers (e.g. small bowls) may only require 20-30 minutes. Test to see if cake is done by sticking a toothpick into it and check for white powder; if white powder is seen, that means you need to steam the cake for a little longer.
12. When cake is done, remove from steamer. Pour out any water that may have gathered on top of the cake. Let sit for ~1 hour.
13. Run a knife along the sides of the container to loosen cake out of the mode. Unmold cake from container if desired.
14. Sprinkle topping on top of cake
15. Eat right away or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving suggestions:

• Taro cake may be served steamed or pan-fried
• To pan fry, cut about a 1.5" horizontal strip of cake, then make into 1/4"-1/2" slices vertically so that you get thin rectangular slices. Heat up a little bit of oil in a wok or skillet. Pan fry the rectangular slices until golden brown.
• Serve with oyster sauce or sweet chili sauce.

Variation:

• Use dried scallops in lieu of or in addition to dried shrimp
• Use only Chinese sausage and skip the Chinese bacon and Taiwanese sausage
• Use fresh shiitake mushroom instead of dried ones

Cooking tips:

• If you want to do a taste test before steaming all of it, ladle a small amount into a small glass bowl and steam it for 20-30 minutes. That way, you can taste and adjust seasoning as needed before steaming the rest of it.
• If there isn't enough space to steam all the batter at once, it's OK to do it in a couple of batches.

This is the rice flour I used, can be found in many Asian supermarkets.