Yangcun Gaogan (Steamed Rice Cake)
A specialty of Yangcun Town, Wuqing County, Tianjin, made by steaming rice flour. Soft, fragrant, and fluffy in texture, it was awarded a medal at the Panama Exposition.
Ingredients
Tianjin Xiaozhan rice (washed, soaked until swollen, ground into moist rice flour)
4 kg
Glutinous rice (washed, soaked until swollen, ground into moist rice flour)
1 kg
Adzuki beans (washed, dried, ground into dry flour)
500 g
Rose
250 g
Green plum (chopped)
100 g
Candied melon strips
100 g
Roasted sesame seeds
75 g
Pine nuts (chopped)
50 g
Melon seeds (chopped)
50 g
Walnut kernels (chopped)
50 g
Candied tangerine peel (chopped)
50 g
Candied green strips (chopped)
50 g
Candied red strips (chopped)
50 g
Brown sugar
2.5 kg
Instructions
1
Step 1
Wash the Xiaozhan rice and glutinous rice, soak in clear water until swollen, drain off the water, and grind with a stone mill into moist rice flour.
2
Step 2
Wash and dry the adzuki beans, then grind them into a dry flour. Mix with brown sugar, rose paste, roasted sesame seeds, and chopped candied green/red strips to form the red bean paste filling. Separately chop the pine nuts, melon seeds, walnut kernels, candied tangerine peel, and candied green and red strips into small pieces.
3
Step 3
Place a steaming rack lined with cloth on the work surface, then set a rectangular wooden mold about 3.3 cm thick on top. Sprinkle the moist rice flour evenly into the mold. When the rice flour reaches 1/3 of the mold's thickness, spread the red bean paste filling evenly over it. When only 1/3 of the mold depth remains, sprinkle in more moist rice flour to top it off. Smooth the surface with the wooden scraper flush with the mold, then use a small iron trowel to polish a smooth face. Press a fine straight-lined wooden board over the surface to imprint straight lines, sprinkle on the assorted chopped garnishes, and cut the cake blank into 40 pieces with a knife.
4
Step 4
Remove the wooden mold and place the cake blanks into a steamer. Steam for about 10 minutes. The cake is done when there is no raw flour visible and the red bean paste filling has cracked open.
