年糕 - Nian Gao

Teh:

Look what i learned at my Chinese New Year goodies cooking class! This 年糕 (nian gao) is surprisingly easy to do but it is a little time consuming.

This is what i got for Wikipedia about 年糕 (nian gao) - "A food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning "sticky", is identical in sound to 年, meaning "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high or tall". As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng). Also known as rice cake. This sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake, so that he can't badmouth the human's family to the God of all Gods (Yu Huang Da Di)."

Without further do, let's look at the ingredients and method to make this!

Ingredients (make 2 medium size ones):

600g glutinous rice flour
700ml water
600g brown candy in pieces (see below for picture)
some pandan leaves
1 tbsp oil
banana leaves or plastic wrap


Method:
1. Boil the water, pandan leaves and brown candy until the candy is totally dissolved. Leave it to cool down.
2. Mix the sugar syrup with the glutinous rice flour until all the lumps are gone. Using a whisk helps alot.
3. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the mixture. Mix well.
4. Sieve the mixture to remove lumps.
5. Pour the mixture into the moulds you desire. Fill only 3/4 of the mould as the mixture will expand when cooked. You can line the moulds with banana leaves or the plastic wrap (can be bought at Phoon Huat). To sure to use extra banana leaves to line the mould to prevent leakage. (Yes mine leaked abit!)
6. Use a heat resistance cling wrap (those microwavable type) to cover the the mould. This will prevent water from landing on top of the 年糕 (nian gao). One of mine got water on top. See what happens below! 
7. Steam on high for 20 minutes. Turn down the heat and continue steaming for at least 2 hours. I steamed mine for 4 hours. The longer you steam, the darker the colour. The colour will continue to darken over the next 2 days too!

Brown Candy in pieces

年糕 (nian gao)
The one on the left did not have a smooth top due to water droplets landing on it!
The one on the right is absolutely beautiful!

Ondeh Ondeh!

Teh:

Ondeh Ondeh

I made these ondeh ondehs 2 weekends ago. I went overboard and cooked too many! I think at least 50 pieces. So please cut down the recipe if you want less. Please only use good quality coconut sugar if you want great tasting ondeh ondehs!


Ingredients (makes at least 50 pieces):
1.2kg sweet potato
350g tapioca starch
300g grated coconut
300g coconut sugar powder

Method:
1. Remove the skin of the sweet potato, cut them into pieces and steam until soft.
2. Mash the sweet potato while they still hot. It is easier to mash them while they are hot.
3. When the sweet potato mash is cool enough to handle, mix in the tapioca starch until it combines into a dough that does not really stick to your hand.
4. Next, roll a small piece of the dough in your hand, flatten it, cup it and put some coconut sugar in it. Seal it and roll it up.
5. When you are done rolling all the dough, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the balls (maybe 10 at a time) to the boiling water. When the sweet potato balls float up, they are done! But i suggest boiling them for awhile more make sure the sugar inside melts.
6. Drain the balls with a sift. Throw them immediately into a bowl of grated coconut while they are still hot and slightly wet. The hot balls will help stick the grated coconut onto them!
7. Viola! Ondeh ondeh ready!

* Note - If you want to keep the ondeh ondeh overnight, do not coat them with the coconut first. Do not put them in the fridge. They should be fine if left outside. Coat the coconut only when you want to eat them. For coconut to last longer (for the day), you can add some salt to it and steam it for 10 minutes. This will prevent them from going bad. Mine was good to eat even the next day, after spending a night in the fridge.

But of course these gems are best eaten on the day they are prepared! Enjoy!

Adventures with Ang gu kueh

2 weekends ago, I came across an “Ang gu kueh” recipe and decided to try it. I used the Japanese type of sweet potatoes (purple skin, yellow flesh). I did not use any coloring and hence my Ang gu kueh is more “Ng gu kueh”, yellowish in color. Surprisingly on my first attempt, the skin came out very soft (remained soft while covered for 3 days) and tasted like those sold outside. I was impressed with myself and this recipe. The only thing I wished for was for it to be more fragrant. On my 2^nd attempt, I decided to add coconut milk (instead of only water) to the kueh hoping it will taste like Bangawang Solo’s. It was a big mistake. Despite substituting 80% of the water with coconut milk, the coconut fragrance was not distinct. The skin was not as soft and it became hard very soon (like when its cold!).

Please see below for 2 pictures, sans photoshop. The 1st picture was from my first attempt, without mould. 2^nd picture was from my second attempt, with an agar agar ang gu kueh mould.

1st attempt without mould

2nd attempt with mould

Hope you’ll try this easy recipe and let us know how your’s turned out!

Ang Gu Kueh

Ingredients: 22 small kuehs
Sweet Potato Skin:
260 g sweet potatoes 
300 g glutinous rice flour
2 tbsps oil
200 ml water (or slightly more. How to know if you used enough water? When in doubt, add more.)
Some red coloring (optional) (I did not use any)

Mung Bean Filling (for 22 kuehs):
200g yellow split mung beans (soaked until soft) (the one used to make “tao suan”)
80g castor sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tbsps oil
Water

OR

Ground Peanut Filing (for 22 kuehs):

200g of salted grounded peanuts

80g of sugar

Water

Method:

Sweet Potato Skin:
Steam the sweet potatoes until soft. Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. I also sieved it on my 1st attempt to obtain a smooth paste. On my 2nd attempt, i put it into a food mixer and blended it. Saved the hassle of mashing it. I also sieved it just to be sure its smooth. Add glutinous rice flour, oil and water and mix well to obtain a smooth dough. Cover with a damp cloth and leave aside.

Mung Bean Filling:
Steam the yellow split mung beans until soft. Add in the sugar and mash with a fork. Mix salt,oil and enough water to form a soft dough. Shape into small balls. 

Ground Peanut Filling:

Ground any type of salted peanut you like. Mix in the sugar. Add water till it forms can be shaped into small balls. (doesn’t take much water)

Shaping the Ang gu kueh:
1. Brush the ang gu kueh mould with oil to ease removal of the kueh from the mould. (I used free hand to shape the kueh on my first attempt)
2. Take some dough, roll it, flatten it into a round shape
3. Take a mung bean or peanut ball and fill into the dough, seal it and roll it into a ball.
4. Press the ball into the mould firmly, to obtain the design and shape of the mould. Tap the mould gently on the table to remove the ang gu kueh from the mould. (If you are not using a mould, just shape it into a ball and gentle press it down in your palm to resemble an Ang gu kueh shape)
5. Place the ang gu kueh on a piece of oiled banana leaf slightly bigger than the kueh. Spread some oil all around the kueh.
6. Steam on high steam if you are not using the mould to shape the kueh. The skin will appear slightly translucent. If its soft when you poke it with something (I used the spoon), It’s done. I steamed it for 10 minutes just to be sure. 

7. Upon some research, I realized for moulded kuehs, you need to steam for 3 mins, open the cover to release the steam, then cover it again for 3 mins. This releasing of steam is to ensure the kueh doesn’t cook too fast. If the kueh expands too fast from the steam, it will lose some of the mould distinction. However, when I steamed the moulded kueh, I used medium heat. I did not open and close the steamer to release steam. Moulded kueh looks fine!

Notes:
1. I used about 30g pastry and 20g filling. 

2. Do not put the kueh too close to one another as they will expand when your steam them. If they stick together, gently separate them immediately after steaming. Yes, this happened to me!

3. Please add enough water to the mung bean dough before you try to shape it. Do not compress it too hard while shaping into a ball. If you press too hard, it will become very compact and hard when you bite into the kueh. Yes that was what happened to me too. Don’t do it.

4. I feel the peanut filling is easier to make and more hassle free. Plus, I prefer peanut to mung bean. But making mung bean paste from scratch gives one a sense of satisfaction. Try both filling!

If you are adventurous, create your own version of Ang gu kueh. 

That’s what I plan to do next.

Shared by Teh.