Chinese New Year Cake - Nian Gao

It is finally Chinese New Year, the year of the Tiger. Strangely, Chinese New Year coincides with Valentine's Day. So what will you celebrate?

There are several desserts which one can find during Chinese New Year and usually my mother bake these goodies. A famous dessert is Nian Gao, which translates to "sticky cake". Depending on the Chinese character used, it can be read as "year high" to describe "prosperity every year". This recipe varies from one region of China to another, but glutinous rice flour is the common ingredient to obtain the sticky texture of the cake. The ingredients shown here are usually found in Asian supermarkets.

Makes 2 cakes
Preparation Time : 20 mins
Steaming Time : 40 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4-5 slabs brown candy sugar
2 cups water
1 lb glutinous rice flour
vegetable oil to brush
5 red dates, cut in half

Procedure

1. Melt brown candy sugar in water over low heat. Cool the syrup for 15 mins.

2. Mix in gradually glutinous rice flour into syrup. This is a very thick batter.

3. Lightly oil an 8-inch shallow baking tin. Pour batter into tin and top with red dates.

4. Steam for 40 mins until the edges pull away from the tin. Remove cake and cool.