Steamed Taro Cake （蒸芋头糕）

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Taro cake is a traditional Cantonese food and a snack sold in tea houses or dim sum restaurants. The main taro cake ingredients are rice flour, you can also add dried shrimps, mushrooms, Chinese sausages, etc. according to your preference. Dip it with sweet sauce/chili sauce, enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, it is so good!! Homemade taro cake is full of fillings and is filled with fragrance of taro. So, satisfying!

You will discover that some of the recipes on You Tube is in the Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Macau styles.  It is also typical in Singapore and Malaysia. Certain recipes use wax or cured meat, while others also use dried scallop. In any case, I'm merely using readily available ingredients in a straightforward recipe.

I will normally make this taro cake in the evening and then I let it cool on the table as my breakfast the next day morning. You must wait until it cools down completely which easy to slice it.

The main ingredient for making this taro cake is taro of course. You need to choose the light option, if you choose the heavy option meaning that it contains a lot of moisture. Peeling the skin and cutting it into cubes is best done with a pair of disposable gloves on if your hand is sensitive,  as the secretion will make your hand itchy.  

Usually, I steam, mash, and cook the taro with the remaining ingredients for my recipe. A portion of the taro cubes in the batter may be reserved in certain recipes. If you would like the cake to contain bits of taro, you can do that.

 

INGREDIENTS

1000g taro cubes

160g rice flour

40g wheat starch

1 pair Chinese sausages

30g dried shrimps

1000ml water

4 shallots

1 stalk spring onions

1 red chili

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp 5 spice powder

Some cooking oil

 


METHODS

1.Peel and cut the taro into cubes and steam for 20-30 minutes at high heat until soft. Mash it and let it cool.

2. Wash and clean the dried shrimps and mushrooms. Then soak them with warm water until soft separately. Roughly chopped the shrimps. Dice the mushrooms and the Chinese sausages.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the rice flour, wheat starch, and water. Mix it well.

4. Diced the shallots (reserve 2 tbsp for later use) and fried them with 1 cup of cooking oil at medium low heat. Stir it frequently to avoid hot spots, fry the shallots until golden brown. Scoop them out with a wire skimmer.

NOTE: You can fry the shallots a few days in advance and store them in an air-tight container.

5. Reserve 3 tablespoons of cooking oil from frying the shallots in the wok. Sauté the reserve 2 tablespoons of diced shallots until fragrant, add in the dried shrimps, mushrooms and sausages, stir-fry for about 2 to 3 minutes until the dried shrimps turn golden brown and the Chinese sausages fat renders out.

6. Add in the salt, sugar, and 5 spice powder to the dried shrimp mixture, followed by the mashed taro and the flour mixture prepare at step (3). Stir constantly at medium low heat until it thickens. This will reduce the steaming process by thickening the batter.

7. To make the taro cake easier to remove, line the 10" x 10" square baking pan with aluminium foil. You may use a round cake pan, which you will need to coat with oil first. Pour the taro batter into the baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Steam it at high heat for 30–40 minutes. The cake will have a little damp surface after steaming. It will soon get dry. Leave it in the baking pan to cool naturally.

8. Chopped some spring onions and dice the chili.

9. After the cake has cooled completely, slice it into a rectangle and top it with fried shallots, spring onions, and diced chili. If you prefer your taro cake to taste spicy, serve it with sambal (shrimp chilili paste) or any hot sauce. ENJOY!!

 

 

 

 

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