Fried Radish Cake in XO Sauce "XO醬炒蘿蔔糕" (XO jiàng chǎo luó bó gāo) is a modernized way of preparing the very traditional radish cake. It adds spiciness and extra dried seafood aroma to the old classic. Although I don’t have a recipe for XO sauce yet, it’s on my list of “to do’s”, so stay tuned!
From my Steamed Radish Cake post, I’ve talked about the radish cake already in some detail. But I have a special story about XO sauce. I remember when I when I was a teenager and I was visiting Hong Kong. It was 1988 and my father took me to a dinner club, La Fontaine Bleu, in Kowloon Tong. This place was for members only and it seemed like every time we’d go, I’d see a celebrity there. I remember seeing actor/director/martial artist Hung Kam Bo and Actor/ Singer Hui Koon Ying who was singing in the karaoke lounge. Very exciting!
Anyways, when you sat down, they would bring over a little dish of “XO Sauce”. It was so good! I would just eat it by itself. It had dried abalone, dried scallops, dried shrimp, dried fish, chilies and other proprietary ingredients. They told us that it was their creation and was inspired by the owner’s Malaysian background.
They named it XO sauce because it contained all the expensive dried seafoods, the best of all sauces. Just like how XO (extra old) is the best of all Cognacs. I am not an expert of Cognacs, but I think this is the assumption most people have. I have no way of verifying if they were the original creators of the XO Sauce, but it does fit with the timeline of when the XO sauce started appearing. Some people say that it was a chef at Lei Garden Restaurant in Hong Kong that created it. Although I’ll never know if I was told the truth, I do think that what I had was one of the most original XO sauces.
You can now buy XO sauce at supermarkets and lots of people make it themselves. In my Fried Radish Cake in XO Sauce "XO醬炒蘿蔔糕" recipe, I’ll show you how to make your radish cake crispy and not fall apart when you fry it with XO sauce.
Fried Radish Cake in XO Sauce "XO醬炒蘿蔔糕"
Ingredients
- 1/2 radish cake 8" steamed
- 2 tbsp XO sauce
- 3 tbsp Oil
- 4 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 stalk Green onions , chopped
Instructions
- Cut the steamed radish cake into 2.5-3 cm (approx. 1”) cubes. For best results, sharpen your knife and use a radish cake that has been chilling in the refrigerator over-night to get nice, clean cuts
- Add 4 tbsp cornstarch in a mixing bowl or plate
- Coat each side of the cut radish cake pieces with corn starch and set aside
- Add 3 tbsp of oil to a non-stick pan and turn heat to medium-high
- Fry each side of the radish cake cubes until golden
Alternatively, you can deep-fry each piece in oil at 180˚C or 350˚F for 2 minutes - Remove the radish cake from the pan
- Add 2 tbsp of XO sauce to the pan and spread it around the pan until it sizzles
- Put the radish cake back into the pan along with the chopped green onions and turn off the heat. Mix gently
- Serve
Loved the recipe! We buy the radish cakes but cooking it with xo sauce made it special. Will have to try your suggestion of sha cha next time. Thank you!
Hi Cathy! My sister also likes the XO sauce radish cakes. Maybe when you're up for it, try making your own radish cake. I also recently posted White Radish Sticky Rice Balls that are quite easy to make that you might like too. Happy cooking!
Hi Cathy! Have you ever tried making your own radish cake? It's not that hard and you'll be able to add the ingredients that you like. I love radish and I find the ones I buy don't have enough radish in them so I've been making my own. My radish cake recipe has tips and ideas that will help you be successful the first time.
Sha cha is a very helpful sauce to add a little extra flavour to XO sauce, black pepper sauce and peanut sauce. Happy cooking!