Char koay kak (Stir-fried rice cakes with beansprouts)

Discover a Malaysian street food treasure: homemade rice cakes stir-fried with preserved turnips, garlic, eggs, beansprouts and a rich soy-sriracha sauce.

Char koay kak (Stir-fried rice cakes with beansprouts). Credit: Murdoch Books / Sam Folan

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

This is my favourite street food to get whenever I visit the weekly night markets in Malaysia. In a typical night market there are bound to be at least two stalls selling this dish and I always go for the one with the longest queue. Malaysians only queue when the food is consistently exceptional. As they are cooked to order, I also always ask for it to be super spicy!

Ingredients

• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil
• 50 g (1¾ oz) preserved turnips (see Note), finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions (scallions), cut into batons of 5cm (2 inches), then halved lengthways
• 2 eggs
• 180 g (6 oz) beansprouts

For the rice cakes

• 1 tsp vegetable oil, plus extra for oiling
• 480 ml (16 fl oz) water
• 155 g (5¾ oz) rice flour
• 30 g (1 oz) tapioca starch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated (white) sugar

For the sauce

• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) kecap manis
• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) dark soy sauce
• 3 tsp (15 ml) sriracha sauce, plus extra to serve
• ¼ tsp MSG

Cooling and setting time: 4-6 hours

Instructions

1. Oil a deep 20 cm x 26 cm (8 inch x 10 inch) rectangular dish.
2. Place all the rice cake ingredients in a saucepan, whisk to combine and set over a medium heat. Whisk continuously as it heats. As soon as the mixture starts to thicken and the whisk meets with resistance, take it off the heat and keep whisking. The residual heat will continue to cook and thicken the mixture. It should be thick, but still pourable.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and level it out, then cover with cling film (plastic wrap).
4. Prepare your steamer. I use a 30 cm (12 inch) wok with a steamer insert or trivet to handle the dish. If your pan is not that big, use smaller dishes and divide the rice cake recipe in half. Make sure the depth of the liquid is at least 2.5 cm (1 inch). Steam the dish over a medium heat for 30–40 minutes, or until the top is no longer wet.
5. Remove the dish carefully and let the rice cake cool completely for about 4–6 hours before cutting it into 2.5-cm (1-inch) cubes. You can cut it smaller, if you wish. The cake can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator to be cut later.
6. Mix the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
7. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the turnip and garlic and fry for 1–2 minutes, then add the spring onions. Fry until they wilt.
8. Add the rice cakes and stir to incorporate. Turn up the heat and stir-fry the cakes until they soften.
9. Push the rice cakes to the side of the wok and crack the eggs in. Roughly break up the eggs and let it sit a little to cook through. Stir the rice cakes and eggs together.
10. Add the sauce and work it through the rice cakes and eggs.
11. Once the rice cakes are soft, add the beansprouts. Continue to stir-fry until they wilt. As soon as they do, turn off the heat.
12. Serve with extra sriracha sauce on the side.

Note

Preserved turnip, used extensively in Southeast Asia, is daikon preserved in a lot of salt. It comes in strips or diced, and in either salty or sweet varieties. I prefer to buy the sweet strips, as they are less salty. Wash before use to remove excess salt.

This is an edited extract from Rice by Ping Coombes, photography by Sam Folan. (Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.)

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.