Daikon Radish pudding

This savoury Cantonese pudding holds generations of tradition, with flavours that balance hearty and delicate in every bite.

A meaningful addition to Lunar New Year celebrations, it carries warm wishes for growth and achievement in the year ahead.

Happy Year of the Snake!

Recipe by Chef John Leung

This pudding is a Cantonese culinary treasure, filled with umami from the mushrooms and preserved meats, with a light sweet earthiness from the daikon radish. This is a dish taught to me by my Mom, who learned it from her Mom. I made a few tweaks, but the spirit of my grandma’s pudding is still intact.

This pudding is popular year round but is especially loved during Lunar New Year when good wishes come in spades. That’s because the last word in lo bak goh is a homophone for high, so when you eat or serve this pudding, you are wishing everyone around you will achieve great things (Bo bo goh sing).

Daikon Radish Pudding (Lo Bak Goh)

Cantonese pudding blends earthy mushrooms, preserved meats and crisp daikon radish into a comforting dish rooted in tradition.
Author Chef John Leung

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp dried shrimp, chopped
  • 6 pieces shiitake mushrooms, diced finely
  • 2 links Chinese sausage diced finely
  • 1 cup prosciutto, diced finely
  • 6 oz rice flour (do not use glutinous rice flour)
  • 2 oz cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder (optional)
  • 2 tsp white pepper
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 lbs daikon radish, peeled and grated
  • 1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds, optional
  • 1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Instructions

  • Rehydrate dried shrimp and mushrooms in hot water. When both are fully hydrated, drain all liquid and squeeze gently to remove any excess liquid. Save some cooled soaking liquid to make up your 2 cups of water;there is a lot of flavour in there, don’t throw it away!
  • Combine rice flour,cornstarch, sugar, salt, chicken bouillon and pepper in a bowl, mix in water to form slurry and set aside.
  • In a hot wok or pan over medium high heat, sauté diced sausage, prosciutto, dried shrimp and mushrooms until aromatic and lightly browned. Add in soy sauce and sesame oil, mix well and set aside.
  • In the same pan with 1 tsp oil, add grated daikon. Sauté over medium-high heat until simmering and water slightly reduced, approx. 8 minutes.
  • Return the sautéed meat and mushroom mix back into the wok and mix well.
  • Reduce heat to low, add in slurry (mixing it well first to ensure there’s no settled starch), and mix well until a thick pasty batter is formed. Keep stirring, you don’t want any browned bits here!
  • In a lightly greased 9 x 9 baking pan (or loaf pan), pour in your batter. Tap gently to release air bubbles.
  • In a steamer with plenty of water, steam pudding over high heat for 50 minutes.
  • When your timer goes off, sprinkle on toasted sesame seeds and/or green onions. Remove from the steamer.
  • You can eat it right away (which is how some dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong do it), or cool completely and place in the fridge overnight to fully set.
  • Once the pudding is set, slide it out of the pan. Slice into 1-inch-thick pieces.
  • At this point, you can either reheat using a steamer for 10 minutes until hot, or pan fry pudding slices with some umami chili oil (recipe linked on the right).
  • If you are pan frying, fry slices in neutral oil in a frying pan over medium heat until golden brown, then add in chili oil near the end.
  • Plate and garnish with green onions, more sesame seeds, and more chili oil, as desired.
  • Eat it while it’s hot, because when there’s lo bak goh at our house, everyone wants a piece!