This is a traditional recipe for Chinese radish cake that my informant learned when she was a child while watching her mom cook it. She cooked it sometimes, not specifically for a special occasion, but she learnt it from her parents also by watching them make it. Her mom didn’t actually teach her the recipe, so she thinks that she might be off from the original.

Ingredients

1) 10 lbs of shredded raddish

2) Lap cheong (腊肠) (Chinese Sausage)

3) Mushroom

4) Hoisin sauce

5) Shrimp

6) Salt & Pepper

Recipe

1) You chop up the lap cheong, mushroom and shrimp

2) Mix it with the raddish

3) Press it to get liquid out

4) Press it into the pan

5) Steam it for about 30 mins

Analysis: In my opinion, this recipe is an example of a family tradition that is passed down from generation to generation. Even though this is tied to no celebration or special moment, the method by which this tradition survived emphasizes the folkloric aspect of this recipe. Furthermore, since the recipe is passed down from observation and not orally, the recipe supposedly varies with every generation.