How to make Chinese New Year Nian Gao

Earlier this month, I wrote about different types of Chinese New Year goodies including Nian Gao!  Nian Gao is always one of my favourite foods during Chinese New Year. So this year I decided to make my own. After much research from various sites, I decided to use this recipe from my friend.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams bag of glutinous rice flour
• 250 grams of brown sugar
• 400 ml of water
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 teaspoons of Oil
• Dates or sesame seeds (optional)

These can be purchased from any Chinese supermarkets in the UK.

Method:

1. Use boiling water to dissolve the brown sugar.  But the brown sugar I bought came in a block.  So I had to use a saucepan to dissolve it.  Once dissolved, let it cool down.
2. Next add in the glutinous rice flour, brown sugar mixture and milk and mix it up.  You might wonder why you need milk! I learned this trick from a Malaysian friend who uses a drop of milk in her cake mixture to bring out the fragrance. This is optional, so if you have any intolerances to milk, you can avoid using it.
3. Mix it well.  If you think the paste is too runny or too thick, just add more flour or water. I personally love it to a little on the runny side as the sticky rice cake will melt in your mouth.
4. Spread the oil all around a steaming dish then add in your mixture. I used GOOD Hemp oil which has a bit of a nutty flavour. You can use any type of oil: sunflower, vegetable or spray oil. If you are using steaming baskets, you might want to use greaseproof paper to contain the mixture.
5. Place them in the steamer for 30 – 60 minutes.

My steaming dish is quite shallow and it only takes 30 minutes to steam. If you have a taller dish, you might need to adjust the time accordingly.

Once it cools down, slice them off into chunks or slices. Some people prefer to coat the Nian Gao with egg and deep fry them before consuming. I like it either way, with egg and just on it own.

Nian Gao should be eaten while its hot as it will be quite soft and easy to eat.  Once it goes cold, it can become really hard and difficult to chew.  So just pop them in microwave for 30 seconds or more, before consuming.

祝你步步高升

This post was first published 20 Jan 2014.