Chinese New Year cake, or Nin Gao (pronounced 'neen go') is a delicious steamed sweet, sticky cake and perfect with a cup of Jasmine Tea!
Chinese New Year cake, or Nin Gao (pronounced 'neen go') is eaten at Chinese New Year of course! It has always been a favourite with my family when growing up as a child, quick and easy to make, and super tasty.
If you haven't tried it before, I think the texture will be something new to you.
It's a steamed cake that is made a few days leading up to Chinese New Year, and then it can be stored in the fridge and eaten as and when you get the desire.
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It is usually cut into slices about 1cm thick, coated in beaten egg and then lightly fried until soft.
Once cooked in egg, this is where you get another texture sensation.
First you get a crispy, crunchy texture from the egg coating the cake, then you get a sweet chewy, almost toffee texture once you start chewing.
Admittedly, it is not for anyone on a diet! There is a lot of sugar, and the use of glutinous rice flour also contributes to the calories, but as a celebration cake to be eaten once a year, I think indulgence is ok!
So here's the recipe. I would be interested on your thoughts, if you've eaten it before, made it, what textures and flavours came to you.
Ingredients
1 & ½ cups or 200 g Glutinous rice flour sieved
½ cup or 50 g Rice flour sieved
2 bars brown sugar (about 118g)
¾ cup or 210 ml hot water
1 egg beaten
Equipment you will need:
Bamboo steamer (14 cm diameter) Any conventional electric steamer also works but I like to use the bamboo one for the smells and flavour it gives during steaming.
Dish /bowl/cake tin (10-11 cm diameter)
Greaseproof / wax paper to line the tin
Instructions:
1. Start your steamer to get it to a fast boil.
2. Line your dish / tin with grease proof paper and lightly brush a drop of oil on the top to prevent the cake from sticking to the paper.lined tin with grease proof
3. Put the brown sugar bars in a pan with the hot water and heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave until cool. I usually submerge the pan half deep in cold water to speed up the cooling process.
4. Add the flours into a mixing bowl and with a wooden spoon start adding the cooled sugar water and keep stirring until well combined. If the mixture gets too stiff to mix, add a drop of hot water to loosen it.mix glutinous rice flour and rice flour with sugared water
5. Transfer mixture to the dish and place in the steamer.
6. Steam for 50 minutes on high. Make sure the steamer does not run out of water.
Leave to cool. Then turn out and remove the greaseproof paper. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge until needed.
8. Slice into pieces about 1cm thick and coat in the beaten egg.
9. Put a drop of oil in a frying pan and place the cake slices in the pan. Turn when brown on one side. Once both sides are brown and feel soft, transfer to a plate, have a cup of Jasmine tea and enjoy!
Recipe Card
How to make Chinese New Year Cake – Nin Gao
Chinese New Year cake, or Nin Gao (pronounced 'neen go') is eaten at Chinese New Year of course! It has always been a favourite with my family when growing up as a child, quick and easy to make, and super tasty. If you haven't tried it before, I think the texture will be something new to you. It's a cake that is made a few days leading up to Chinese New Year, and then it can be stored in the fridge and eaten as and when you get the desire.
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ cups or 200 g Glutinous rice flour sieved
- ½ cup or 50 g Rice flour sieved
- 2 bars, or 118 g brown sugar
- ¾ cup or 210 ml hot water
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Start your steamer to get it to a fast boil.
- Line your dish / tin with grease proof paper and lightly brush a drop of oil on the top to prevent the cake from sticking to the paper.lined tin with grease proof
- Put the brown sugar bars in a pan with the hot water and heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave until cool. I usually submerge the pan half deep in cold water to speed up the cooling process.
- Add the flours into a mixing bowl and with a wooden spoon start adding the cooled sugar water and keep stirring until well combined. If the mixture gets too stiff to mix, add a drop of hot water to loosen it.mix glutinous rice flour and rice flour with sugared water
- Transfer mixture to the dish and place in the steamer.
- Steam for 50 minutes on high. Make sure the steamer does not run out of water.
- Leave to cool. Then turn out and remove the grease proof paper. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge until needed.
- Slice into pieces about 1 cm thick and coat in the beaten egg.
- Put a drop of oil in a frying pan and place the cake slices in the pan. Turn when brown on one side. Once both sides are brown and feel soft, transfer to a plate, have a cup of Jasmine tea and enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 113Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 10mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 0gSugar: 14gProtein: 2g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate
Delicious Asian Style Desserts
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Light, fluffy, soft, vanilla custard filled buns. Eat these sweet bread buns warm or cold, I like them just from the oven! Freezer friendly too
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How To Make A Chiffon Cake. Here I made a Pandan flavour cake which gives a wonderful green color, you can of course choose any flavor. Easy step by step instructions to give you perfect results for this soft and fluffy cake. Really delicious!
march
says:Whoaaa…that’s a fun story to tell our kids. I love nian gao in banana leaves, too! Tastes so good and smells super nice when they’re pan fried. Yum!