This is my easy recipe for making nian gao. I remember when I was young I used to help my mum making this for Chinese New Year and she will be then wholesale it to the fruit seller & vegetable seller in the market. She used to steam the nian gao for hours and hours.
The day before she will be grinding the rice and strain it in a muslin cloth to squeeze out the water. Later at night she will then knead the dry grained rice with sugar until the sugar is melted and it becomes a runny batter. She set it aside ready for the next morning.
We used to help her wipe clean the bananas leaves ready for her to put into the tin. As we are young only task she allow us to do is cutting the size of the round tin for the base. As we grow older she allow us to line the 1st layer of the tin with the banana leaves. It was such a memory growing up in the kampong.
Now that all the traditional utensil is too primitive to use for the current century as the rice grinder shown here ...lol
Ingredients:
- 300g glutinous rice flour
- 300ml water
- 300g white sugar
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 4-5 long sheets of banana leaves, if frozen thawed first
- few round tins to fit in the slow cooker or pressure cooker or 1 large round that fit in the cooker
Method:
Blanch the banana leaves in hot boiling water for about 5 minutes to soften it. Then pat dry and set aside.
Cut the banana leaves into 7 inch wide and about 7-8 inch length. Line the leaf horizontally and then vertically like a "+"(overlapping at the bottom of the dish) and then diagonally line an "X" to make sure I cover all the side and bottom of the dish. Repeat this pattern for 2 more times. For slow cooker, skip, skip down to slow cooker to read the instruction.
To make the nian gao batter, place the sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer or until sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and let it cool down completely.
Gradually pour the sugar mixture into the flour and stir until smooth. If lumps persists, simply strain it with a sieve and then pour into the prepared pan lined with banana leaves. If you don't use banana leaves, lightly oil the sides and bottom of the pan for easier release later.
Steamer method:
Prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a rolling boil. Give the nian gao batter a stir and pour nian gao batter into prepared pan an cover with aluminium foil. Place inside the steamer and steam on high heat for 30 minutes and then lower the heat and steam for 2½ to 3 hours. You may need to refill the water in the steamer throughout the cooking process. Don't let it dry out.
The nian gao will sill appear very soft at the end of the cooking time and that is normal. You need to let the nian gao cool down completely. Wrap them up with plastic wrapper and they will be ready in 2 days. At day 3, the nian gao will be much more firm and can be sliced. After day 3 I would suggest to wrap them up and keep them in the refrigerator or it will start mouldy. Can keep for months in the freezer too.
Slow cooker method:
For slow cooker, you need a smaller round tin or cans lined with banana leaves that can fit your slow cooker. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the nian gao inside the slow cooker, cover with aluminium foil and then very carefully pour in the boiling water into the slow cooker up to the point where you fill up the batter. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. It will still appear somewhat soft, but that is normal. Remove from the slow cooker and let it cool down completely.
Enjoy the nian gao. I like mine coated with fresh grated coconut or fried it with sweet potatoes.
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