Law Bo Gow

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Although it is a staple served in dim sum places throughout the year, the law bo gow (turnip cake for the qweilos) holds special places during the Chinese New Year when it is eaten as a snack with the cake symbolizing prosperity and good fortune.

The cake is very simple. Its main ingradients are white turnip and rice flour with a few pieces of dried mushrooms, Chinese dried sausage or dried shrimp thrown in; then steamed for an hour or so. My mother used to labor herself for a whole day to make several pans of the cake just before the new year. Unfortunatey, with her cooking skills, the cakes usually had a slight quality control problem. Fortunately, the law bo gow is widely availbe in Chinatown these days with bakeries and snack shops making larger aluminum pan versions during the Chinese New Year.

The store bought law bo gow is cooked and ready to eat. It should have a firm spongy consistency and depending on the quality of the sauce, it either has a nice blend of dried shrimp, mushrooms or Chinese sausage mixed in or just a few sprinkled on top. Since it has been cooked by steaming, the cake should be nicely moist, soft, and dissolve easily in the mouth with lots of flavors from the turnip and the mixed in supplemental ingredients.

The law bo gow can be eaten as is, warmed, or my preferred way of cutting it into small thin pieces and pan-frying them until a crispy crust is formed. Besides adding texture to the cake, the pan frying also brings out the fragrant aroma and flavor of the dried shrimp and the Chinese sausage. To go for that extra mile, put a dab of oyster sauce and Sriracha on it.

If you like the law bo gow, you may also want to try its cousin, the woo tul gow (Taro root cake).  

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