Chinese Steamed Cake

[hzrt8w]

Speaking of expecting, did you ever eat chee mah wu while pregnant? Mom used to make it with the black sesame seeds. I was always teased that my babes will be born with skin like black sesame seeds!

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You can make it with slightly roasted white sesame seeds, to be safe.

[peony]

Almond Sweet tea - taken from snacks of HongKong

100 g sweet almond (nam hun)

1 - 2 tbsp bitter almond ( pak hun )

2 - 3 tbsp rice

5 cups water

100 g rock sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

Soak both almonds in 1 cup water and liquidize in a blender. Filter solution.

Rinse and soak rice in 1/2 cup of water for 1 hour. Put in a blender to liquidize. Filter.

Bring 3 ½ cups of water to boil. Add in sugar to dissolve. Add in almond solution to boil. Thicken with rice solution, add evaporated milk.

notes : Chinese almonds help to remove phlegm and relieve cough.

to save the trouble of blending the rice, I use rice flour, potato flour or even at times cornflour.

Edited November 28, 2006 by peony (log)

[Tepee]

Thanks, peony, I can just smell the aroma now.............

[peony]

you r welcome, tepee

[Dejah]

Almond Sweet tea - taken from snacks of HongKong

100 g sweet almond (nam hun)

1 - 2 tbsp bitter almond ( pak hun )

2

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Peony,

Do you by any chance have pictures of the nam hun and pak hun? I didn't know there were 2 kinds.

[Tepee]

Yes, there are 2 kinds. In fact, they are in one of the formula for an anti-cough drink.

nam hung

pak hung

honey-soaked pei pah leaves

dried limes

Works wonders. Will take pix if I get some...wonder if it can be googled?

[hzrt8w]

Tepee may be I can save you one picture quota.

Here is the picture of the "pak hung" (north almond) 北杏. The bitter one.

The "nam hung" (south almond) 南杏 should be just apricot kernel.

The sweet one.

I can't live without Google these days.

(Nor can I live without Youtube, Yahoo, CNN, Napstar, Myspace, Blogspot...)

[peony]

pak hung - bitter almonds, are smaller and rounder with a distinct bitterness.

nam hung - sweet almonds, are larger and flatter.

the names shd be on the packet and if you get from herbal or Chinese shops would be even easier, the shop keeper wld tell you.

[Tepee]

Tepee may be I can save you one picture quota.

<snip>

I can't live without Google these days.

(Nor can I live without Youtube, Yahoo, CNN, Napstar, Myspace, Blogspot...)

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Thanks, Ah Leung gaw. Much appreciated.

With all your modern dependence, I'm surprised you don't communicate in SMS lingo.

[peony]

pak hung and nam hung are the kernels of a Mongolian apricot. So cant be olive kernels.

These apricots are found in Manchuria and the northern provinces of Hebei, Beijing and Shandong in north China.

Edited November 29, 2006 by peony (log)

[hzrt8w]

With all your modern dependence, I'm surprised you don't communicate in SMS lingo. 

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SMS lingo?

TP: hav u 8 dinR yet? Where r d pics? want 2 c em. hurE! ttyl

[aznsailorboi]

QUOTE(Tepee @ Nov 29 2006, 08:19 AM)

With all your modern dependence, I'm surprised you don't communicate in SMS lingo. 

SMS lingo?

TP: hav u 8 dinR yet? Where r d pics? want 2 c em. hurE! ttyl

thats funny, auntie TP, now you got him started already! tsk tsk tsk lol

who else got myspace here?

[Domestic Goddess]

Raises her hand shyly... I do... only because my sister told me to join.

[cyen]

Hello there, this is my very first eGullet post, but I just wanted to say that this is a topic that I'm very interested. Chinese steamed cake is something that I'm obsessing right now because I don't have a functioning oven but I crave yummy, fluffy cakes. Someone already mentioned Ma-la-gao (馬拉糕), which I haven't tried to make, but I had very good luck with another steamed cake, which is "salty cake" in Chinese (鹹蛋糕). It's a Taiwanese specialty that has fried shallots and minced pork for topping, but the cake is sweet but not too sweet like western-style cakes. I often think of Ma-la-gao and the salty cake are cousins, but it's probably because they both appeared on the same page of my cookbook (and that they're both steamed). Hehe. If anyone is curious, this is the picture of the salty cake: http://studiocyen.net/food/photos/121706_cake1.jpg

[Dejah]

Someone already mentioned Ma-la-gao (馬拉糕), which I haven't tried to make, but I had very good luck with another steamed cake, which is "salty cake" in Chinese (鹹蛋糕). ...... my cookbook (and that they're both steamed).  Hehe.  If anyone is curious, this is the picture of the salty cake: http://studiocyen.net/food/photos/121706_cake1.jpg

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Wow! An entrance in the Chinese tradition: bringing a gift of food (siu thlim? in TOisanese)on your first visit to "our home". Welcome cyen!

Your savory cake is something I might try. I love sweet and salty together.

[peony]

there is another type of savoury steamed cake, popular among the Javanese / Indonesian...it's a cake which has minced meat in the center.

called soo-maker, Indonesian cupcakes.

[Dejah]

pak hung and nam hung are the kernels of a Mongolian apricot. So cant be olive kernels.

These apricots are found in Manchuria and the northern provinces of Hebei, Beijing and Shandong in north China.

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Strange idea eating these "apricot kernels". It is known that the apricot seeds contain "amygdalin", a cyanide compound which can be harmful if ingested in large amounts.

[cyen]

Wow! An entrance in the Chinese tradition: bringing a gift of food (siu thlim? in TOisanese)on your first visit to "our home". Welcome cyen!

Your savory cake is something I might try. I love sweet and salty together.

Thank you for the welcome, Dejah! Indeed I love to give and receive food as gifts.

The cake recipe is from the revised edition of Wei-chuan's Chinese Snacks, but the meat topping is a recipe based on my mom's dish. The seasoning consisted of ginger, shallots, garlic, soy sauce, white and black pepper, whatever Chinese cooking wine that I have lying around the house, and a bit of sugar and salt. I stir fry the meat with ginger, shallots, and garlic before transfering the mixture (and add everything else) to a small pot for slow cooking. I usually cook about half to one pound of pork so that I have plenty of leftovers to eat. I like the meat with rice or noodles. Nothing too fancy but very tasty.

there is another type of savoury steamed cake, popular among the Javanese / Indonesian...it's a cake which has minced meat in the center.

called soo-maker, Indonesian cupcakes.

That sounds quite delicious too! Must ask the in laws about it. So far the only steamed cup cake that I've eaten in Bali is something made of rice flour but it has a Chinese origin so I can't really call it Indonesian.