Steamed Rice Cake with Dried Radish (水粿-Zui Kueh)

水粿 - read as shui guo (in Mandarin) but it is commonly known as zui kueh in Hokkien, literally means "water cake". Zui Kueh is little steamed rice cakes topped with preserved radish and served with chilli sauce. One of the key success factors in this dish is the delicious topping as steamed rice cake itself is almost tasteless. By the way, Zui Kueh is one of the most popular Singaporean snacks or breakfasts available in food courts and hawker centres.

Ingredients (2-3 servings):

Topping:

3-4 tbsp cooking oil

2 bulbs shallots, chopped

2 cloves garlics, chopped

150g preserved radish, soaked and well drained

½ cup water

½-1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp dark soy sauce

Rice Cakes:
75g rice flour
15g tapioca or wheat starch (wheat starch produces more bouncy texture)
¼ tsp salt
50ml water
300ml boiling water
½ tbsp oil (from frying shallot)

Directions:

1. Topping: Heat oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragrant or lightly browned. Remove fried shallot and garlic, scoop out half tablespoon oil and set aside.
2. Stir in preserved radish, fry till relatively dry and fragrant. Add in sugar and dark soy sauce, stir till well mixed. Add in water and simmer over low heat till water is reduced by half. Stir in fried shallots and garlic, remove from heat.
3. Rice Cakes: Put flour, starch and salt in a large mixing bowl, add in water and stir till well combined. Pour in boiling water and stir rapidly to form smooth paste, then add in shallot oil and stir to combine.
4. Pour mixture into moulds till almost full and steam over high heat for 15 minutes. Remove from steamer and let it cool down for 5-10 minutes.
5. Serve: Remove rice cakes from the moulds and arrange them on a plate. Spoon topping over the cakes, serve warm with some chilli sauce at the side if desired.

Notes:

• I used patty cake tins for steaming these cakes. If using muffin tin or bigger mould, fill the tin/mould up to about 1" and steaming time should be adjusted to 20 minutes.
• Hot rice cakes are very soft and would be hard to get them out from the mould in good shape.
• Some mince may be added to the topping if desired.