One of the traditional dishes eaten during Chinese New Year is a New Year Cake. It’s a very simple steamed cake, made with glutinous rice flour for a mochi-like chewy texture and sweetened with brown sugar.
The Lunar New Year is this Friday, January 31, 2014.
One of the traditional dishes eaten during the New Year for Chinese people is a New Year Cake.
It’s a very simple steamed cake, made with glutinous rice flour for a mochi-like chewy texture and sweetened with brown sugar.
The name literally translates as “year cake.” It is supposed to be good luck to eat it because the cake name is a homonym for “higher year.” Thus, the belief is if you consume the cake, you will have a successful upcoming year. I always eat it simply because I love it, especially with its chewy texture.
The cake is readily available in Chinese markets around this time of year, but you can also easily make it at home. After the cake is finished steaming, it’s soft and chewy. Once it cools and is stored, it will become hard and dense. As a result, it is usually sliced and served either pan fried or dipped in egg batter and deep fried. Both methods heat the cake and restore it to its originally sticky and chewy form.
There’s many variations and flavors, but the most basic one which I grew up with is only three ingredients: glutinous rice flour, water, and brown sugar. You can make these ahead of time, store them in the fridge, gift them to friends.
More Chinese Recipes
Chinese New Year Cake
Ingredients
- 400 g glutinous rice flour
- 300 g dark brown sugar
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Grease the sides and bottom and line the bottom of an 7 inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
- Bring water to a boil and stir in sugar until it is completely dissolved. Remove from stove and let syrup cool completely. Then, slowly add in rice flour, whisking it into the syrup. Whisk until batter is smooth and no lumps remain. Pour in batter.
- Steam about 1 hour or until sides begin to pull away from cake and cake is solid and no longer a liquid batter. The cake will still be very soft. This is normal. You can eat as is, though it is more difficult to cut. To make it hard like the kind sold at the store, put cake into fridge. The cake will start to solidify after 1 day but may take several days to fully turn hard. To reheat, slice into 1/2 inch thick squares and pan fry with some oil until the cake is soft and chewy again and no longer hard. Another popular way to reheat is to coat the squares in egg and flour and deep fry.
Notes
- You can also use light brown sugar though the color of your cake will be lighter.
- I can never resist eating some right after it is steamed. I then place the rest in the fridge as it will be easier to cut into squares.
- Store any uneaten cake in the fridge.
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
If I’m using a 9” round cake pan, how much would you recommend I increase the ingredients by? Thank you!
Sorry, but we’ve only tested it in a 7-inch pan and not sure how the recipe will need to be adjusted for a bigger one.
Wow! This was so easy to make! Never again am I buying this from the store. I’m all set for Chinese New Year. Go Tigers!
We’re glad it worked for you!
Just made this tonight and it was so easy. Thanks! I will be making more for friends and family this weekend
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
This is my go-to recipe every year. So easy compared to some of the other recipes out there. Thank you!
We’re so glad you love the recipe!
Can i bake instead of steam method ?
Sorry, but we haven’t tested the recipe in the oven.
I tried this recipe and it is amazing but I was wondering if the recipe is keto friendly.
This recipe is not keto-friendly. Our keto recipes are always labeled keto so it is clear. Hope that helps!
Can I use brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar?
yes!
To pan fry in egg and flour, how much flour to one egg.
You only need a thin coating of egg and flour. 1 whisked egg should be enough. How much flour depends on how many slices you are cooking. You coat each slice in egg just enough so that the flour will stick on. Then you coat in flour. Just a thin layer, shaking off any excess flour. This will create a crispy coating around the new year cake when fried
Can rice flour be used or only glutinous?
no, it has to be glutinous
Hi! Im attempting to make this for the first time, but I have no idea how to steam in a pan like this! What is an easy way to do this, for those of us who have no knowledge of steaming foods!
are you using a steamer, or what are you using for steaming? You can use almost any round cake pan for this. And you can line it with parchment paper to make it easier. I put mine in a steamer. if you’re not using a traditional steamer, you want to put water at the bottom of your pot, then have something sitting above it which you can place your cake pan on, so that the steam from the water will rise and cook the cake without the cake floating in the water.
I already have the steamed nian gao, but I was wondering whether I’d somehow be able to bake it instead of frying. I’ve been raised with the panfried method, but I’ve been attempting to ‘healthify’ New Year treats. 🙂
If you want to do really healthy, I sometimes slice it, put it on parchment paper and microwave it. It won’t stick to the parchment paper and it becomes nice and chewy again in the microwave. =) Baking should work too but will take longer
Woo! I was just looking for this recipe to make on Friday. Have you ever made it with red bean? I’m wondering how to adjust the wet/dry ingredient ratio to allow for the increased liquid… Thanks, and happy new year!
Unfortunately, I have not tried the red bean. It seems like a little too much work for me and I’d just go and buy it. haha. good luck!
I didn’t know these were so easy to make. I always buy mine from 99 ranch. Do you coat it with flour before you pan fry? Mine always gets sooo sticky when I pan fry so I’m wondering if flour will do the trick.
No, I usually just use some oil. You can also try just pan frying with egg though.