Nian gao
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nian gao or Niangao (Chinese: 粘糕 or 年糕; pinyin: nián'gāo; literally "sticky cake" or "year cake"), sometimes known in the West as "rice cake" or Chinese New Year's cake, is a food prepared from glutinous rice and used as an ingredient in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it is eaten all year round, traditionally it is eaten at Chinese New Year.
Despite numerous varieties, they all have similar recipes: cooked glutinous rice is pounded or ground into a paste, and, depending on the variety, may simply be molded into shape or cooked again to settle the ingredient.
Nian gao have many sub-varieties. One is the savory Shanghai style, usually packaged in a thick soft rod to be sliced up or packaged pre-sliced and either stir-fried or added to soup. This type is the most chewy nian gao variant. A second variety is the sweet Cantonese-style nian gao. It is sweetened, usually with brown sugar, which gives it a golden color, but occasionally white sugar is used to maintain the white color of the rice. The paste is then poured into a cake pan and steamed once more to settle the mixture. It may be eaten as is with the texture similar to cheese, or pan fried so that it is slightly crispy on the outside while still gooey on the inside. Another variety is a sweet, stretchy, and sticky pudding made with glutinous rice flour and brown sugar and flavored with rosewater or red bean paste. The batter is steamed until it solidifies and served in thick slices.
Korea and Japan both have similar pounded glutinous rice foods, known as tteok and mochi, respectively.
