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Prep Time: 35 Minutes Cook Time: 655 Minutes |
Ready In: 690 Minutes Servings: 6 |
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Once a favorite breakfast of the Chinese, this dish might more accurately be called a daikon scramble. But the Chinese words for carrot and daikon are almost the same, and cake refers to the way the rice flour binds the ingredients. Ingredients:
1 pound daikon (also called chinese radish or luo bo) |
7 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil |
2 teaspoons salt |
1 teaspoon white pepper |
2 cups finely ground rice flour (not sweet; an asian brand such as erawan) |
2 cups water |
6 large eggs |
2 tablespoons chopped garlic |
1/4 cup ketjap manis (indonesian sweet soy sauce) or thick soy sauce |
1 1/2 teaspoons sambal oelek or sriracha (southeast asian chile sauce) plus additional for serving |
3 scallions, chopped (1/4 cup) |
1/2 cup loosely packed sprigs fresh cilantro |
Directions:
1. Make and steam cake: Oil bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Peel daikon, then shred in a food processor fitted with medium shredding disk. Reserve any liquid.
3. Heat wok over high heat until a drop of water evaporates instantly. Pour 3 tablespoons oil down side of wok, then tilt wok to swirl, coating side. When oil begins to smoke, add daikon with any liquid, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir-fry 3 minutes. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring and breaking up daikon occasionally, until daikon is very tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Whisk together rice flour and water in a large bowl until smooth, then stir in daikon (mixture will be lumpy) and pour into cake pan.
5. Set a steamer rack inside cleaned wok and fill wok with water (not above steamer rack), then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to moderate and steam cake in pan on rack, covered, 1 hour (replenish water as necessary). Wearing oven mitts, transfer pan to a cooling rack and cool about 1 1/2 hours. Wrap pan tightly with plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours.
6. Make stir-fry: Run a knife along edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a cutting board, rapping on bottom of pan until cake is released. Blot with paper towels. Cut cake into 1/2-inch cubes.
7. Beat together eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl.
8. Heat dried wok over high heat until a drop of water evaporates instantly. Pour remaining 4 tablespoons oil down side of wok, then tilt wok to swirl, coating side. When oil begins to smoke, add cake cubes, garlic, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and stir-fry, letting cake rest on bottom and sides of wok about 10 seconds between stirs, until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. (Cubes will soften and may stick to wok. Scrape brown bits from bottom of wok and continue stir-frying.) Add eggs to wok and stir-fry until eggs are just set, about 1 minute. Stir in ketjap manis, sambal oelek, and scallions, then transfer to a serving dish and scatter cilantro on top. Serve with additional sambal oelek.
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