Quay Po Cooks: nian gao

Showing posts with label nian gao. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Nian Gao Puff with yam and freshly grated coconut

I first tasted this nian gao puff at my first blogger meet during last Chinese New Year. They were from Tracie of Bitter Sweet Flavors and I fell in love with it. I am crazy over deep fried nian gao that were sandwiched with yam and sweet potatoes but they are very oily. The puff is much better because it not. Since I have some nian gao in the fridge, I decided to make it. Instead of following just Tracie's recipe, I incorporated Sonia’s, Tracie’s and Wendy’s recipes into one. I omitted the roasted peanuts and added mashed yam and desiccated coconut like what Wendy did with her fried nian gao roll. This combination had yield a fine product and I am very happy with it. My friends and family loved it. They nodded their head to show their approval after the first bite so this was a successful venture. The credit goes to my three friends. Do go check out their blogs, they have lots of yummy recipes as well as fabulous photos. Even if you do not cook, you can treat your eyes to a feast.

Largely adapted from Sonia’s and Tracie’s and Wendy’s
recipes

Ingredients:

1 medium size Chinese Steamed Sticky cake / Nian Gao (cut 32 pcs. lengthwise, 1 in x ½ in x ½ in thick)

4 pcs. Frozen Puff Pastry, thawed and roll it out thinly, cut into 8 rectangles

1 medium size yam, cubed, steamed and mashed.

2 cups freshly grated coconut

1 egg yolk, beaten for glazing

White sesame seeds

Method:

Mix desiccated coconut with mashed yam. Coat nian gao with yam and grated coconut mixture. Place Nian Gao in puff pastry and seal the edges. Brush the pastry with some egg wash, sprinkle some sesame seeds. Bake at pre-heated oven at 180c for 20 mins or until golden brown

Note: You may have some nian gao left. The rule of the thumb is to make 32 puffs. This will taste good with desiccated grated coconut too.

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.