Nian Gao with red beans 紅豆年糕 is a popular dessert and gift during the Chinese Lunar New Year.
It can be roughly translated as “New Year Cake,” and it is a glutinous rice flour cake with thousands of years of history and thousands of variations across Asia (taro cake, radish cake, sponge cake, etc.) and is very similar to a Japanese mochi.
In Cantonese, the word for “cake 糕” shares the same sound as “tall 高”, gōu, so the cake is intertwined with many sayings and symbols of good luck such as:
– bouh bouh gōu sīng 步步高升 – step by step, rising steadily
– faai gōu jéung daaih 快 高長大 – a wish for children to grow taller and faster
In Cantonese, red beans are called “hùhng dá, formally known as adzuki or azuki beans (アズキ) which in Japanese means “small bean” that itself is not sweet and is usually combined with sugar to be made into red bean paste called “anko.”
The final decorations each have their symbolism, some are meant for newlyweds and others are more general prosperity wishes:
– red dates (hùhng jóu 红枣) we wish you to have children soon!
– walnuts (hahp tòuh 合桃) we wish you (literally, 100 years) a happy marriage
– sesame seeds (jī màh 芝麻), we wish you to constantly improve your life, career, studies, etc.
Red dates are the most common decoration because the color red is a symbol of good luck, along with sesame seeds.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Steam
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 7 oz sugar
- 3/4 cup water (boiling)
- 10 oz glutinous rice flour
- 2 tbsps coconut milk (can)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 9 oz anko
- to taste sesame seeds
Tools
- 1 Steamer
Steps
Add boiling water to the sugar.
Mix the flour with the coconut milk and oil.
Combine the two mixtures.
Add the anko.
Let it rest for 10 minutes.
Place in a cake mold and steam for 1 hour.
Decorate with sesame in the center.
Glutinous rice:
Glutinous rice:
Also known as sweet rice, glutinous rice is used in many desserts and Asian dishes and is a staple food in Southeast Asian cuisine.
Compared to regular rice, it has a shorter grain and lacks one of the two main molecular components of starch.
Starch typically contains both amylose and amylopectin.
Glutinous rice lacks amylose, but although it’s called glutinous rice, it is completely gluten-free.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What is Nian gao in Shanghai?
Shanghai’s Nian gao is better known as rice dumplings.
The Shanghai version is made with non-glutinous rice and remains white; this latter characteristic is considered its distinctive feature.
The most common method of cooking Nian gao is stir-frying, after which the name of the dish changes to chao nian gao (炒年糕).
There are three different types of chao nian gao: the first is a very savory dish, to which various types of meat (beef or pork) and vegetables (cauliflower or celery) are added.
The second dish is a sweet version, sweetened with classic white sugar, while the last version is flavorless, often consumed for its pleasant chewy texture.
