TURNIP CAKE RECIPES RECIPES

1. First, make the soy maple nuts. Drain the mushrooms, squeezing them until dry, then finely chop and set aside.

2. Put the pine nuts and chestnuts into a large, non-stick frying pan and place on a medium-high heat. Toast for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until golden and fragrant, then add the sesame seeds for 1 minute, followed by the chopped mushrooms, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, maple syrup and ? teaspoon of salt. Continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid bubbles, reduces and coats the nuts and mushrooms, 4–5 minutes. Spread out on a parchment-lined tray and set aside.

3. For the turnip cake, whisk together the first six ingredients with 240ml of water and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl until smooth, then set aside while you prepare the rest.

4. Place a large saut. pan on a medium heat with the 600g of grated daikon and 2 tablespoons of water and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until all the liquid has evaporated (take care not to brown the daikon). Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. Line and grease a 30cm x 23cm highsided baking tin or baking dish and set aside.

6. Transfer the daikon to the bowl of rice flour mixture, along with 80g of the soy maple nuts, and stir together. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing the top as you go, then seal tightly with foil and place the tin in a high-sided baking tray that is slightly larger than the tin. Pour enough boiling water into the baking tray to rise three-quarters of the way up the sides of the tin of turnip cake – and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the tin from the water bath, discard the foil and set aside to cool. Transfer to the fridge for 40 minutes, or overnight, until completely chilled.

7. Turn the cake out on to a chopping board, then cut into eight even slices. Brush the turnip cakes on each side with 4 tablespoons (total) of the oil.

8. Heat a large, non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat, then add 1. tablespoons of sunflower oil. Fry the slices in two batches (or more batches, if you can’t fit four slices into the pan), spread apart, for 2–3 minutes on each side, until crisp and golden brown. Keep the first batch warm while you fry the rest with the remaining 1½ tablespoons of sunflower oil.

9. Put all the serving ingredients (except the chives) and 80ml of water into a small saucepan on a medium-high heat and warm through, about 3 minutes.

10. Arrange the turnip cake slices on a large platter, overlapping each other. Pour over half the sauce, then sprinkle over the chives and the rest of the nuts and seeds. Serve at once, with the remaining sauce on the side.