Chinese Breakfast Recipe - Steamed Radish Cake /Lo Bak Gou 萝卜糕

Radish cake is savoury in nature. This dish is traditionally served during Chinese New Year. It is said that during this time, the radish is most juicy and sweet. But most importantly, it signifies prosperity (yes, the Chinese take their homophones seriously). Nowadays, you can find steamed radish cake whole year around at local Hong Kong dim sum outlets. I, however, still prefer the homemade version as commercial radish cakes tend to stinge on ingredients (Chinese call it 料) for economic reasons. But if you are doing it at home, you could put as much in as you like.

Braised Beef Brisket with Daikon Radish 焖牛腩

In China, this dish is normally cooked in the winter to warm up the body. If you look closely at the ingredients, most of it belongs to the 'yang' category. It also means that most of the ingredients cause "heatiness". Daikon, however, has a cooling effect and it in turn provides a good balance to this otherwise heaty treat. Besides that, daikon is more resilent and doesn't break easily, making it a perfect accompaniment in stews.