Fund Raiser #2

During this second fund raiser, we've attempted some crazy stuff. We made turnip cakes during the week and also sold green bean slush on Sunday.

God is so gracious to us because turnips were 4 pounds for $1 at 99 Ranch Market. At the same time, green beans were $0.50 each!! So the overall cost was fairly low compared to cookies or brownies. Dairy items are just too costly.

We've raised a good $400 that weekend. Of course, it's not from sales but from the generous contributions of brothers and sisters.

So here are the details of our venture:

Turnip Cake (or Radish Cake)
Turnip cake is a traditional Chinese snack which can be enjoyed either steamed or pan fried. You can often find this food at your local dim sum restaurant.

ingredients:

• radish (shredded)
  
• processed rice flour (usually sold in 1pound clear bags with red writing) ~$0.69 per pack
• 1/2 cup dried fried onion flakes
  
• 1 cup ground pork (or Chinese sausages)
• 1 TB spoon dried shrimp (chopped)
• 5 dried mushroom (soaked and chopped)

steps:

1. shred radish using cheese grater and set aside
   
2. mix rice flour with 3-4 cups of water (depending on if you like it firmer or softer) and set aside
   
3. heat up pan and throw in dried shrimp, mushroom and onion flakes. Cook until flavor is mixed, throw in the pork (add soy sauce, sugar, and wine) and cook until meat is extremely well done. Remove and set aside.
4. heat up clean pan and add radish, mix with 2-3 cups of water and simmer for about 5 minutes, add some salt to taste
5. set stove to low heat, pour in rice flour mixture into the radish soup and stir until it begins to harden
6. turn off flames and add meat mixture into pan and mix well
7. pour into pyrex casserole dish lined with wax paper
8. steam for about 45 minutes

Let it cool and can be refrigerated for up to a week. To serve, cut into 1/2" thick blocks and pan fry on both sides until soften.

Dip with soy sauce paste and minced garlic for a perfect aroma.

Green Bean Slush
Green bean and red beans are the two favorite beans for dessert in Chinese cooking. They can be cooked into a soup, used as filling for many type of dumplings and cakes, and they can also be served as a drink or even frozen popsicles.

ingredients:

• green bean
• rock sugar
• milk
• sugar syrup

steps:

1. Wash and soak beans overnight in water
2. Boil beans in pot with water just covering the beans
3. Add rock sugar to sweeten and simmer until beans are soft (about 1-2 hours) and set aside to cool
4. make sugar syrup by boiling water and sugar
5. use a nice blender (Vita-Mix kicks major butt) and put some beans, ice, milk, and sugar syrup - blend until slushy and serve

Even though Vita-Mix is about $350-400 at Costco, I believe it's worth every penny. We were fortunate to borrow two machines to make the slushy. I'm saving money to buy my own blender eventually.