Paper Chef #13 - Downunder Holiday Celebrations

As part of the judging team for Paper Chef #13, Noodle Cook takes a holiday from Paper Chef challenges this month. However, the opportunity to exchange holiday celebration experiences proves too much, so here is a non-entry:

A savoury vegan daikon cake with the four secret ingredients of rice, carrot substituted by daikon, anchovies substituted by red fermented bean curd, and wolfberries from the other side of the world, China, as a reflection of Perth about the equator. A quandong (native peach) sauce goes with the dish.



The design of the dish takes into account the red and green colours of Christmas and the hot weather in Perth. The idea of a cake comes from the festive Eight Treasure Rice Cake from China which traditionally contains almonds, lotus seeds, dates and candied fruits. The dish works well cold as a picnic lunch, and leftovers can be panfried as for raddish cakes from dim sum restaurants. In this dish, broad beans, baby corn, akudjura (bush tomatoes) and mountain pepper berries act as a side salad instead of incorporation into the cake in case the fermented bean curd fails to impress the non-adventurous diner.

The red ingredients pictured below add a special touch to the dish. Clockwise from the front:

• fermented red rice ("Ang Kak")
• red fermented bean curd
• quandong
• wolfberries

The cake derives its flavour from the very pungent fermented bean curd and shiitake mushrooms. While the lightly spiced fruity quandong sauce balances the taste, as a plum sauce equivalent which incorporates Australian bush ingredients. The lovely red of the sauce comes from the fermented red rice which also acts as a thickener. Wolfberries, as a garnish and as a contrast to the cake's texture, complete the red Christmas colour theme.

to be completed... Enjoy the pictorial for now