Glutinous Rice Cake (aka Nian Gao or Neen Go)

Directions

• Place two cups of water in a medium sized pot. Add the 3 dark brown sugar chunks. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir water and brown sugar occasionally until all brown sugar is melted. Turn off heat and let cool until lukewarm (i.e. when you no longer see steam).
• Using a sifter, slowly sift in glutinous rice flour and mix with a whisk, so you get rid of any clumps. The mixture will start to thicken as you continue to add flour and mix with the brown sugar water.
• As the mixture gets very thick, you may need to switch to using a spoon to mix. Once you have added all the flour, the resulting consistency should be like a soft smooth dough. If the dough appears too dry add 1/8 cup of warm water at a time until you achieve a smooth consistency.
• Line an 6 inch round stainless steel/non-stick cake pan with parchment paper. You can shape the parchment paper by wrapping the parchment paper on the outside of the pan first and pressing the sides of the parchment paper around the edges of the pan. You can then place the parchment paper inside the pan and then press the parchment paper inside the pan, so it fits snuggly against the walls of the interior of the pan. Cut any excess parchment paper outside the pan.
• Pour the smooth dough into the round parchment paper lined cake pan. There should be about 1/4″ of space at the top of the cake pan, because the cake will expand a little as it steams.
• Fill a steamer pot with water and add a steamer rack. Place the round cake pan on the steamer rack and then cover and let steam for approximately 2-3 hours. To prevent water from the steam from dripping down on the cake, you can use cheesecloth pulled taut with the lid and suspended above the cake to absorb excess water. Alternatively, you can leave a sliver of space with the lid to let some steam escape during the steaming process.
• The cake is done when you stick a chopstick in the center of the cake and it comes out clean (i.e. without a lot of dough sticking to it). Let the cake cool at room temperature and then place in refrigerator to harden for 24 hours.
• When you are ready to eat, cut the Nian Gao into 1/4 inch thick square/rectangular slices. Cut as many pieces as you think you will eat and wrap the rest with clear plastic wrap and store in refrigerator.
• Using a non-stick plan, add some olive oil to the pan and then place the slices of nian gao in the pan. Fry the slices until you see some browning and then flip and brown the other side. The nian gao is done when there is an “outer browned skin” and a soft sticky interior. Plate and serve. Nian gao is best consumed while warm and soft.