Lunar New Year Recipe: Lo Bok Go (Turnip Cake)

Lo Bok Go (Turnip Cake)
FROM Joanne L.

Joanne said, “My mother would make lo bak go (Cantonese for turnip cake) every Lunar New Year. In 2021, I started a new Lunar New Year tradition of making it myself. This is my mom's recipe.”

Ingredients:

• 1 daikon radish (grated)

• 3-5 shiitake mushrooms (washed, soaked until soft, and chopped)

• 1 tbsp dried shrimp (washed, soaked for 15 min, and chopped)

• 3 Chinese sausage (diced)

• oil

• salt

• rice flour

• soy sauce

• white pepper

• five spice

• 1.5 cups of chicken broth

Steps:

1. Grate the daikon (use the largest grater on the box grater and shred it like cheese) and set aside.

2. Stir fry the filling ingredients (mushroom, chinese sausage, dried shrimp) with oil. 

3. Add soy sauce and stir fry for about 15 min.

4. Take out the filling ingredients from the wok and set aside.

5. Stir fry shredded daikon with oil. 

6. Add salt. 

7. Add a pinch of five spice.

8. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce.

9. Add back the filling ingredients that you had set aside earlier and stir fry some more. 

10. Add 1/2 tsp white pepper.

11. Take everything out and squeeze/drain out extra water (Don't rinse the wok. You want to retain the flavors.)

12. Add chicken broth to about 1/2 pack of rice flour into a mixing bowl. Mix well and get out any lumps. 

13. Add this rice flour mixture to the wok slowly.

14. Stir around. It will get clumpy. 

15. Add more water/chicken broth. It will look like mashed potatoes. 

16. Add filling/shredded daikon mixture back into the rice flour mixture. 

17. Mix and stir well to get out any rice flour lumps. Add a little more water as needed. 

18. Pour everything into a cake pan. 

19. Steam for 45 minutes. 

20. Once it's done, let it sit in the fridge so it will hold together well. 

21. When you're ready to eat, cut the cake into smaller piece and fry them to your liking.

---

For Lunar New Year, Asian Girls Ignite celebrated with sắp sửa and Red Boat Fish Sauce! sắp sửa is an innovative Vietnamese restaurant in Denver, Colorado run by the husband-and-wife team of Ni and Anna. It was recently named one of the Best New Restaurants in 2023 by Esquire Magazine!

Lucky for us, they prepared the most delicious 4-course, pre-fixe, Lunar New Year dinner with proceeds from the meal going towards Asian Girls Ignite’s student programming. We are so grateful for their support and the support of everyone who joined this special dinner.

As a token of appreciation, compiled a number of favorite Lunar New Year recipes from our community. Feel free to recreate the recipes at home or share it with friends and family.

If you’d also like to support Asian Girls Ignite’s mission, we welcome your generosity! Your donation will empower us to continue our mission of igniting the power of AAPI girls and gender-expansive youth.

As the Year of the Dragon unfolds, may you spread your wings and soar high, embracing great power and good fortune ahead!