How to Make Chinese New Year Cake Nian Gao (Sticky Rice Cake)

Last Updated: May 6, 2021

One popular dessert eaten during Chinese New Years is 'Nian Gao (年糕). One of the reasons it's eaten during this time is because the words "Nian Gao (粘糕)", meaning "sticky cake," sounds just like the words 年高, which means something along the lines of "growing taller every year." Similar to "a pinch to grow an inch," this is just used to wish the person good health in the New Year.

Ingredients

14 ounces (400 grams) bag of sticky rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
2/3 cup (130 grams) of brown sugar
7 ounces (210 mL) of boiling water
1 tablespoon milk
Water (by the tablespoon)
Optional: Red bean paste (adzuki)
Optional: Decorations, (E.g. Sesame seeds, Boba tea powder, etc.)

Steps

1
Obtain ingredients. Most of these ingredients can be bought at most Asian food stores.
2
Mix boiling water and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool.
3
Put the flour in a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour in the sugar/water mixture as well as the milk. Mix.
4
Add water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is like dough.
5
Roll out onto a (Glutinous Rice Flour) floured surface. Spray one side with Non-stick spray.
6
Place on a sprayed paper towel and then in a steamer. Steam for about 45-50 minutes.
7
Place a dish on top and invert the cake onto the plate. Remove the paper towel.
8
Finished.

Warnings

Don't lift the cover of the steamer for any reason unless you're done. Lifting it releases the steam and then it will be extremely difficult for you to finish cooking your cake. There's no need to test for "doneness." 50 minutes is enough.

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Helpful 9 Not Helpful 2
Sticky rice dough is VERY fragile. Be careful when flipping it over and ALWAYS work on a heavily floured surface. It's called sticky rice for a reason!

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Helpful 12 Not Helpful 4
Make sure you're using only glutinous rice flour. Don't confuse this with ordinary Rice Flour, which has a similar texture.

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Helpful 7 Not Helpful 3
Don't burn yourself in the steam.

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