Daikon Fries

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
September 16, 2009

DOUBLE CROWN
316 Bowery
@ Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012
212-254-0350
$$

One of the things I love at dim sum is daikon (turnip) cake, a cake of shredded radish and rice flower with pieces of Chinese sausage or ham. The cake, sliced into squares then pan fried, has a crispy exterior and is soft and moist inside. Double Crown has ingeniously taken the original Cantonese dish and westernized it by making fries out of the cakes. While I think that the fries, compared to the traditional cakes, are too crispy without enough gooey, I still find them entirely addictive, especially with a bit of spicy sauce. Sriracha will do, but Double Crown also made a special sauce for me by combining the sriracha with horseradish, Tabasco, jalapeño, garlic, ginger, olive and lime juice. The fries are served with a side of chili sambal mayonnaise, which is also good, but I’m not sure mayo is the best accompaniment for daikon.

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