Recipe: Yam "Mooli"

It sounds like I've been cooking a lot, but I haven't really. Early days, nights late, my bed is but a brief encounter. But that makes weekends ever more so precious and looked forward to. Weekend cooking is therapeutic, and the summer nascence predicts bbqs, Sunday lunches out in the garden and picnics galore.

Yam "Mooli" is a dish that transcends the seasons, however. This starchy savoury cake warms in winter, and in summer, the snowflakes finely diced of dried shrimp, chinese mushrooms and chinese sausages delight. In dim sum restaurants, what is served is usually white radish mooli, which can be substituted for yam in this recipe (if radish is used, 1,000ml water is required). But I prefer the more robust texture of yam "mooli", although I adore dim sum in general.

(Aside: Which is your favourite dim sum joint in London?)

This recipe is adapted from Gracie Hsieh.

Yam "Mooli"
(pics to come)

800g chinese yam, peeled and cut into small cubes

B - Ingredients
3 chinese sausages (lap cheong), finely diced
100g dried shrimp (hae bee), soaked for at least 1 hour and coarsely chopped
10 chinese mushrooms (dong gu), soaked for at least 1 hour and finely diced

C - Cake
300g rice flour
1250ml water
2tsp salt
1tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp pepper

~ * ~
1. Heat 3 tbsp oil and fry half of yam till cooked. Set aside.

2. Steam the remaining yam for 45 minutes. Mash and set aside.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry B together until fragrant.

4. Mix C well in a pot. Add fried ingredients in (3) and mashed steamed yam. Stir well and cook over low heat until the mixture sets.

5. Transfer mixture into a greased baking tin. Stir in fried yam. Press mixture tightly. Use a wet spatula to smoothen the surface.

6. Steam the whole mixture for 45 minutes. Set aside to cool and garnish with red chilli, spring onion and fried shallots.

To serve, I like to cut the cake up into slices and fry the pieces in 2-3tbsp oil until the surface yields patches of crispy brown (because of its floury texture).