Pen Gao (Steamed Glutinous Rice Cake with Dates and Beans)
盆糕 (Péng Gāo) is a traditional Beijing Manchu pastry steamed from glutinous rice, legumes, and red dates. It features distinct, well-defined layers and a rich, fragrant red date flavor.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice (soaked in cold water for 6 hours, then ground into flour)
4 kg
White kidney beans (boiled until half-cooked)
1 kg
Small dates (washed and soaked for 1 hour)
1.25 kg
White sugar
500 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Rinse the glutinous rice thoroughly, soak it in cold water for 6 hours, drain well, and after resting for 30 minutes grind it into flour, then pass through a fine sieve. Boil the white kidney beans until they crumble easily when pressed between the fingers but have not yet turned into a paste, then drain them. Mix the beans evenly with the glutinous rice flour. Wash the small dates and soak them for 1 hour, then steam half of the dates until tender.
2
Step 2
Spread the raw (uncooked) dates evenly across the bottom of a round cake pan. Sprinkle half of the glutinous rice flour in an even layer over the dates, cover the pan with a lid, and steam over high heat for 30 minutes.
3
Step 3
Layer the remaining steamed dates and glutinous rice flour alternately over the already steamed layer in the same pan, using the method described above, and steam for another 30 minutes. When the surface of the cake feels springy and elastic when pressed, drizzle a little cold water over it and continue steaming until pressing the surface no longer feels elastic. Use a chopstick to poke small diagonal holes all over the cake surface so steam can escape, then keep steaming until the cake is fully cooked through.
4
Step 4
Invert the steamed cake onto a damp cutting board, cut it into small pieces, and sprinkle generously with white sugar before serving.
