Singaporeans may be more familiar with local fried carrot cake, but Hong Kong-born Kelly Pang hopes that they will try the version from her birthplace too.

Her Hong Kong-style radish cake is served steamed or fried and includes ingredients such as lup cheong (Chinese sausage) and dried shrimp. Versions of it can be found at dim sum eateries here.

Ms Pang, 43, shares her family recipe of radish cake done in two ways. The steamed version has a light and fluffy texture, while the fried one is soft inside with a crisp exterior.

The ingredients are not complicated, but the preparation takes time. So she makes the dish only for Chinese New Year or on request from family and friends.

The ingredients - lup cheong, preserved meat (commonly called waxed meat), dried scallops, dried shrimp and mushrooms - are fried in advance for added flavour and fragrance.

The radish is grated by hand and she uses some that she cuts into matchstick-size for added texture.

She steams the radish cake in disposable aluminium tins so that it is convenient to give to friends. If you plan to fry the radish cake, it is best to keep it overnight in the refrigerator for it to set properly.

She says cooking is in her genes as her late grandfather worked as a chef and butler for the United States Consulate General Hong Kong & Macau in Hong Kong. Her family, now all Singapore citizens, moved here when she was 11 years old.

The mother of two children - 15-year-old Megan and 10-year-old Kegan - cooks daily. One of her early cooking inspirations is celebrity chef Martin Yan as she was a fan of his television cooking show Yan Can Cook.

Ms Pang, who used to be in the hotel industry, stopped working 10 years ago to take care of her children.

Creative dishes that she has made include Japanese-style hamburg steak with onsen egg, big prawn cheese beehoon and grilled mentaiko prawns. Cantonese-style soups are a must for daily meals, she adds.

The avid cook says: "I love to eat and will try to replicate dishes that I have tried at restaurants. For example, the miso cod I had at Japanese restaurant Syun at Resorts World Sentosa was so good that I had to try to make it myself."

She also made a sashimi cake for her son's birthday and says she will attempt a nasi lemak version as well.

The self-proclaimed "egg queen" loves eggs in all forms - from devilled eggs to a "lava egg nest" dish, where shredded potatoes form a nest and avocado, cheese, ham and an egg are added to it.

She bakes too, including pies, buns and tarts, and her recent obsession was yuzu chiffon cake and yuzu sakura cake.

Fancy recipes aside, one that is close to her heart is a "four-generation recipe" of simple mashed potatoes. The potatoes are mixed with butter, salt and pepper, and evaporated milk is added as the finishing touch.

Even when she has a disaster in the kitchen, it becomes a learning lesson.

She says: "When I started making Swiss rolls, I kept failing at the part where you roll the cake. In the end, I used the layers to make strawberry shortcake. Never throw ingredients away even if you fail. You should think of something and innovate."

The cooking genes have also influenced her daughter Megan, who aspires to be a pastry chef.

From helping her mother pluck the ends off beansprouts at the age of six, Megan is now so accomplished in the kitchen that she won a cook-off at cooking school Creative Culinaire, with a shrimp mocktail starter, main course of salmon with broccoli puree and mashed potatoes, and dessert trio of key lime pie, fruit tart and panna cotta.

HONG KONG-STYLE RADISH CAKE IN TWO WAYS

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbs oil

2 lup cheong, thinly sliced

100g preserved meat, soaked and thinly sliced

50g dried shrimp, soaked in warm water and roughly chopped

6 to 8 dried scallops, soaked in warm water and shredded

8 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water and cubed

15cm-piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into four thick pieces

800g or 2 large radish, peeled and shredded (keep the juice as well)

Pepper to taste

1 chicken stock cube

200 to 250g rice flour

METHOD

1. In a wok, heat oil and fry the lup cheong and preserved meat for a few minutes till fragrant. Set aside to cool.

2. Fry the dried shrimp and scallops for a few minutes till fragrant. Set aside to cool.

3. Fry the mushrooms for a few minutes till fragrant. Set aside to cool.

4. Fry the ginger for a few minutes till slightly brown, then add the radish and its juice. Stir in pepper to taste and chicken stock cube. If the radish does not have a lot of juice, add the soaking liquid (about 150ml) from the scallops and shrimp.

5. Fry on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes or till most of the soaking liquid is absorbed and the radish is translucent. If the radish dries out, add small amounts of the soaking liquid.

6. Remove the ginger slices, turn off the heat and push the radish to the sides of the wok. Leave to cool for 45 minutes to one hour.

7. Add the rice flour to the radish and mix well. The mixture should remain moist.

8. Add the lup cheong, scallops, dried shrimp, preserved meat and mushrooms (below). Stir to get everything well-mixed.

9. Scoop into a 20cm-wide round aluminium tray for steaming or 15cm-long rectangular ones for frying.

10. To steam: Prepare a steamer or wok for steaming. Place the round aluminium tray inside, cover and leave to steam for 45 minutes.

11. To fry: Place the rectangular aluminium trays in the refrigerator overnight or at least two to three hours to firm up. When ready to fry, carefully slice 1cm-thick pieces of the radish cake and place on a dish.

12. In a frying pan or wok, heat oil and fry one side of the sliced radish cake for three minutes. Make sure it is already golden-brown and crispy before flipping to the other side. Fry the other side for another one to two minutes. Repeat for the rest of the sliced radish cake.

13. With both methods of cooking, serve the radish cake hot with a side of XO sauce or chilli oil.

Makes two round radish cakes for steaming or rectangular radish cakes for frying