Rice Cakes: Varieties, Recipes, Tips

[eatingwitheddie]

Is it wine rice or rice wine?

I was just reading over the posts and noticed the two different names wriiten above.

I have always thought of this item as rice, fermented wine rice. Not as wine, though obviously the liquid part is a form of rice wine.

[amamus1]

I don't  have help for you on your rice cakes, but I'd love to hear how you make your wine.  We have the yeast balls and the rice, but the conversation I had with the grannie describing how to do it didn't get written down right away, and I'm foggy on the details.

I'll ask my friend to ask her mum about them...do you have the Cantonese name for them?

regards,

trillium

The process for making the rice wine is quite simple:

1. Cook/steam the sweet (glutinous) rice as you normally would and let it cool to room temperature.

2. In the meantime crush the wine ball and dissolve it in 1/2 cup of lukewarm water to activate the yeast. (Since it's a living yeast, heat would kill it.)

3. When the rice has reached room temperature, stir in the yeast. If the rice is firm enough to hold its shape, make a 1" diameter hole in the center for the liquid to begin to accumulate. I have at times omitted the hole without too much harmful effect. Cover with a cloth to keep out flies and fruit flies that are attracted by the wine.

4. Begin to check progress next day, but it will continue to "work" and increase in alcoholic content for at least 3 or 4 days.

The sweet rice wine (with or without the solids) can be used as the "broth" for various sweet desserts or as a sweetening agent in other dishes. (I have never measured the alcoholic content.)

In our area in China, this dish was an indispensable part of New Year's and Lantern Festival celebrations when it was often used as the broth for sesame-filled rice balls.

Chinese specialties are often highly localized. My hometown (Xinning) was near the southern edge of Hunan province, only about 120 km north of Guilin. So it's quite possible that the elusive sweet cakes were not known outside the immediate area.

I don't remember the name for the cakes, but the rice wine is called jiu niang.

[amamus1]

Is it wine rice or rice wine?

I was just reading over the posts and noticed the two different names wriiten above.

I have always thought of this item as rice, fermented wine rice. Not as wine, though obviously the liquid part is a form of rice wine.

I think "rice wine" and "wine rice" are used interchangeably, although the only recipes I have found in cookbooks and on the web call it rice wine. I suppose it may depend on what part of the product is being used. For the cake, it would probably be more accurate to call it wine rice.

Since I am new to this group, I may be about to mention a subtopic that has been covered before. I was recently introduced to a book by A. Zee, "Swallowing Clouds." In a breezy and often humorous style, he teaches the reader how to read a Chinese menu and in the process shows the etymology of Chinese characters, how to decode characters by breaking them into radicals, how food integrates into Chinese life and culture, etc. Since as a kid I attended a German school, I learned very little about written Chinese but enough to make this book fascinating, fun, and useful. (I believe Zee is a physics professor raised in Brazil in a Cantonese-speaking family.)

[eatingwitheddie]

The process for making the rice wine is quite simple.............

.....................the rice wine is called jiu niang.

Thanks for your excellent post. Hope we see more soon!

[mudbug]

I have a question about the following "Bok Tong Go" recipe. I've searched high and low online for a recipe and finally found these. I plan on making the first one.

Bok Tong Go I

Bok Tong Go II

I am several hours away from any place that would sell these pre-made and would love to make them myself.

Does anyone have any comments on the specific type of rice flour to use, or what to definitely avoid? There are several different varieties of rice flour at the Asian groceries in my area.

Also, if anyone has any authentic recipes for the same cake, I'd greatly appreciate link or a pm.

Many thanks in advance...

[eatingwitheddie]

I plan on making the first one.

My instincts tell me to make the second one though I have no familiarity myself

2 reasons:

1) The comment about the off taste of rice flour (in the 2nd recipe) strikes me as the sort of comment a knowledgable and sophisticated cook might make.

2) The 2nd recipe uses rice rather than rice flour and makes the problem of which rice flour to use a moot point.

[Big Bunny]

I would guess that long-grain rice flour is fine in the first recipe.

On the other hand, I have faith in Rhoda Yee.

Her recipes have worked well for me.

Experiment!

BB

[Louisa Chu]

I used to make this all the time with my grandmother - my mom's mom - when I was a little girl - it was my job to make sure there was enough water covering the rice while it fermented - quite a serious responsibility during cold, dry Chicago winters.

The second recipe - go with that one.

It's funny. We did it all by hand so I can't imagine what my grandmother would think about using a blender. But now that I've been working in gastronomic kitchens I'm thinking Thermomix would be better - and to play around with the rice types, soaking liquid, oil flavour, garnishes, presentation, plating - this is one of the recipes I've been meaning to experiment with - thanks for the reminder.

[mudbug]

Thank you all for your input. (Any more comments are still welcome.)

Guess I'll try them both to compare!

Another question: I can't find compressed yeast around here. What would be an appropriate substitute for the second recipe?

[Hest88]

Can't comment, 'cause I never made it myself, but this was by far my favorite Chinese "pastry" when I was growing up. Mmmmm!

[trillium]

Sometimes the medicine shops will have the compressed yeast, just fyi.

If you can't find it, I think you could use the dried kind that comes in a package, but my guess would be to NOT use the super rapid rise kind, since the yeast might crap out too soon.

regards,

trillium

[mudbug]

Well,

Thank you everyone for your input.

I made them both. The first one I did not have time to do the last step which was to allow the mix to ferment after adding the bicarbonate so it came out solid instead of full of holes as it should have been, which is also why it was more of an off white color instead of transparent white. I'll have to try it again in it's entirety.

The second one came out but the cakes were only one to one and a half inches high. I seem to recall them being twice that height. I did use regular dry yeast. The texture was perfect. Elongated vertical air striations and bubbly air pockets towards the top. Any thoughts on height would be appreciated.

[Big Bunny]

I have not tried this recipe, so I am only guessing.

It seems to me thet anything that changed the height would

ruin the perfect texture.

Perhaps it is just a matter of making a bigger batch?

I am not a baker, so please take me with a dash of soy sauce.

BB

[mudbug]

It seems to me thet anything that changed the height would

ruin the perfect texture.

Not necessarily, it's sort of like making an artisinal bread which just didn't rise enough.

I think it may have been the rise time. Perhaps I let it go a little too long.

[mudbug]

FYI: Recipe II works out pretty well. Didn't quite come out with the height I seem to recall but it has been a while. The flavor and texture were just right!