Add the glutinous rice flour to a mixing bowl. Pour in 1 cup of water. Stir everything with chopsticks or a wooden spoon, until the water is absorbed into the flour. Gather the dough together with your hands and knead for a minute, until you get a smooth dough. The dough should feel like moist play-doh. If the dough is feeling very wet; add a few teaspoons of flour and knead again. If the dough is feeling dry, add a splash of water.

Rip off about a small handful of flour and shape it into a log that’s about 3/4 to 1-inch thick in diameter. Tear off small pieces of dough that roughly looks like 1 ½ teaspoons per piece. This doesn’t have to be precise.

Roll the small pieces of dough into small balls and transfer them to a large plate. Continue shaping the remaining dough into small rice balls. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

Trim off the green tops from the daikon. Slice the daikon into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices. Then, stack the daikon slices and cut into strips (about 1/4-inch wide).

Heat a large wok (or pot) with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the dried shrimp and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. Next, add the daikon and 1 1/4 cups of water. Add the sugar and cover the wok with a lid and bring the water to a boil. Once boiled, reduce the heat slightly, and let the daikon simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until tender.

Uncover the wok and season with salt. (See note 2) Transfer the daikon and all the liquid to a bowl.

Sometimes, store-bought fish cake paste can be rather plain. That’s why I like mixing sliced scallions into the fish paste. Feel free to leave out the scallions and skip straight to pan frying the fish cake.

Brush a layer of oil over the back of a large, flat spatula (something like a wok spatula or a turner spatula). You’ll use the spatula to flatten and shape the fish paste inside the skillet. The oil helps prevent the fish paste from sticking to your spatula.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with a thin layer of oil (about 1 1/2 tablespoons). Heat the pan over medium-high heat and add the fish paste. Then, use the greased spatula to spread and flatten the fish paste into a large cake, about 1/2-inch thick. Pan fry one side for 3 to 4 minutes, until golden. Use a large spatula to flip the fish cake over and pan fry the other side for another 2 minutes. Add a little more oil around the perimeter of the fish cake and tilt the pan around to distribute the oil.

Transfer the cooked fish cake to a plate and let cool for a few minutes. Then, slice the fish cake into small strips (mine are usually about 1 1/2" x 1/2"). Transfer the sliced fish cakes back to the plate.

Heat the wok (or pot) with 2 tablespoons of oil over high heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook for about 1 minute. Add the sliced Chinese sausage and cook for 30 seconds more. Carefully pour in the chicken broth and drain the daikon cooking liquid into the wok. Cover the wok with a lid and bring the liquid to boil.

Carefully transfer the rice balls into the wok. I usually invert the plate that’s holding the rice balls and use my fingers to gently brush off the balls. Cover the wok with a lid again and cook the rice balls for about 5 minutes. The rice balls should float to the top at this stage.

Serve the tang yuan in bowls with broth. Garnish with more scallions and cilantro, if you like. If you like a slight spicy kick, you can also add a dash of white pepper or chili flakes to the tang yuan.