Wu Tau Gou

the Cantonese taro cake of the dim sum trolley: diced taro bound with rice flour, dried shrimp and sausage, steamed into a loaf and then fried in slices

Origin: Guangzhou & the Pearl River Delta

From the journey of Taro.

Taro cake is the quieter sibling of the turnip cake, and Cantonese opinion divides over which is better along lines that have nothing to do with argument and everything to do with what people grew up with. Both are steamed savoury loaves bound with rice flour, both are studded with dried shrimp, dried scallop, and Chinese sausage, and both are cut into slabs and fried until the outsides crisp. The difference is that taro brings its own texture: where the radish version dissolves into the batter, diced taro stays in soft floury pockets through the loaf, and biting through one is the point of the dish. It belongs to the trolley and to the New Year in equal measure. At yum cha it arrives fried, two or three slices to a plate, with chilli sauce or oyster sauce beside it. At the lunar New Year the whole steamed loaf is a gift and a household staple, made in quantity and eaten for a fortnight, sliced and pan-fried as required, and its name is one of the many New Year foods chosen partly because it sounds auspicious. The technique that matters is the ratio of liquid to rice flour, and the reason it matters is that the taro contributes water of its own. A batter mixed to look right in the bowl will frequently steam into something too soft to slice, so Cantonese cooks err dry and judge the loaf by how cleanly a knife comes out of it after it has cooled completely. Slicing warm is the commonest failure: the loaf needs several hours in the refrigerator before it will cut into clean slabs. The frying is not optional either, whatever a steamer basket suggests. Steamed and eaten straight, the cake is soft and slightly bland; the contrast of a crisp fried face against that softness is what the dish is for.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 700 g taro, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
  • 250 g rice flour
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 550 ml water or light chicken stock, warm

Aromatics

  • 40 g dried shrimp, soaked 20 minutes and roughly chopped
  • 2 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), finely diced
  • 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and finely diced
  • 3 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp neutral oil

Seasoning

  • 1.5 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

To finish

  • 3 tbsp neutral oil, for frying the slices

Method

  1. Line a 20cm square tin or a deep round cake tin with greaseproof paper and set a steamer large enough to hold it over water.
  2. Fry the diced sausage in the oil for two minutes until the fat runs, then add the dried shrimp and mushrooms and fry for two minutes more.
  3. Add the diced taro and fry for five minutes, turning it through the aromatics so the outsides pick up the fat without breaking down.
  4. Stir in the salt, sugar, white pepper, and sesame oil, then take the pan off the heat and let it cool for ten minutes.
  5. Whisk the rice flour and cornflour into the warm water until completely smooth. Do this in a large bowl, since the taro is going in next.
  6. Fold the taro mixture and the spring onions through the batter. It should be thick and heavy rather than pourable; err on the dry side, because the taro will release water as it steams.
  7. Scrape it into the lined tin and level the top, pressing down so there are no air pockets.
  8. Steam over a steady simmer for one hour. Top the water up as needed and do not let the pan boil dry.
  9. Test it with a skewer through the centre: it should come out clean apart from taro. Let the loaf cool completely in the tin, then refrigerate for at least four hours and preferably overnight.
  10. Turn it out and cut into slabs about 1.5cm thick. Slicing it warm will tear it; slicing it cold gives clean edges.
  11. Fry the slices in a little oil over a medium heat, three or four minutes a side, until a proper golden crust forms. Serve hot with chilli sauce or oyster sauce.

Notes

The overnight chill is the difference between neat slices and a crumbling loaf, and it cannot be hurried. Wear gloves when peeling raw taro, as the sap causes intense itching on the hands. Use a large dense corm rather than eddoes, which are too wet here. The batter should look too stiff in the bowl: taro releases a surprising amount of water during the hour of steaming, and a batter that looks correct going in will steam into something unsliceable. For a vegetarian version, leave out the shrimp and sausage and double the mushrooms with a spoonful of fermented black beans, which keeps the savoury weight the dish needs.

The Gastrographer

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