Nian Gao - Chinese New Year Cake

I’m so excited to share with you this recipe for Nian Gao otherwise known as Chinese New Year Cake! It’s made with brown sugar and has a Mochi like texture! My grandma would make this for our family every Lunar New Year but no one knew the exact recipe! I haven’t eaten my Grandma’s Nian Gao since I was 10, so this year I decided to give it a shot and recreate it based on my memory of the taste & texture and I’m so happy to say it passed the test with my family! There’s something so comforting about food that brings back sweet memories! 

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Recipe

ingredients

1 bag of glutinous rice flour

1 can of coconut milk

2 and a quarter cups of water

1 Tbs of vegetable oil

1 Tbs of corn starch

2 cups of brown sugar

3 thick slices of ginger

Coconut Oil Spray

instructions:

Step 1: Boil water with brown sugar & ginger until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool until room temp

Step 2: In a mixing bowl combine glutinous rice flour with coconut milk, vegetable oil & corn starch

Step 3: Remove ginger pieces from the dissolved brown sugar and combine with the rice flour mixture, mixing until silky  smooth

Step 4: Spray pans with coconut oil then fill with batter leaving a bit of room at the top for the cake to rise. Pop any air bubbles you see with a toothpick

Step 5: Steam on high heat for 50 mins. Then let it cool until room temp before putting it in the refrigerator overnight to set- this gives it time to form the perfect chewy texture!

Step 6: EAT!  My favorite way to serve this is by cutting it into thin slices, coat it with egg then pan fry on low heat for 2-3 mins!