Nian Gao (Chinese New Year Sweet Rice Cake) is a traditional Chinese recipe for a classic steamed cake of glutinous rice flour and brown sugar that's typically served on Chinese New Year. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Chinese version of: Chinese New Year Sweet Rice Cake (Nian Gao).
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New Year Sweet Rice Cake (红糖年糕), or nian gao (年糕), is a welcome sight during Chinese New Year and a must-have dish. Nian gao 年糕（高) symbolizes progress, advancement, and growth. Nian Gao is also a popular gift to give when visiting family and friends during the holiday.
Ingredients:
2 tsp vegetable oil (plus more for brushing baking pans)
780 to 960ml of water (depending on humidity levels where you are)
4 slices of fresh ginger
400g dark brown sugar or brown rock sugar
½ tsp ground allspice
675g glutinous rice flour
225g rice flour
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp dark molasses
finely-grated zest of 1 large orange
6 dried dates (for decoration, optional)
Method:
Take two 20cm diameter round baking tins and brush the insides with vegetable oil.
Take a medium pot and add 500ml water and the ginger slices. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes over low heat.
Turn off the heat then stir in the brown sugar and allspice until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove the ginger slices then add 360ml cold water so the mixture cools down so it's warm and not hot.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the rice flours together and then slowly add in the spiced sugar water mixture. Stir thoroughly until the batter is smooth (without any lumps). Now stir in the vanilla extract, molasses, orange zest, and 2 tsp of vegetable oil, blending until thoroughly combined. The resulting batter should have a consistency similar to condensed milk. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more water a couple tablespoons at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
Pour the batter evenly into two greased pans. Gently tap the pans against your countertop to get rid of air bubbles. Top the mixture in each pan with three decorative dates in the centre (if using).
Put both pans in a double-decker bamboo steamer and steam for about 1 hour on high heat (the water should be boiling, but should NOT be bubbling high enough to touch the pans). You might need to add boiling water into the steamer midway through cooking to avoid having the water dry up and burn your bamboo steamers.
After an hour of steaming, poke a toothpick into the rice cake. It’s done if the toothpick comes out clean—just like with a regular cake. For steaming you should either use a pan that fists the steamer baskets exactly or use a wok that's much larger than the steamer baskets and sit the basket in the boiling water.
When done, remove the rice cakes from the steamer basket. Allow to cool slightly then serve directly from the cake tins.
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