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Bowl pudding, red bean or plain

Bowl pudding, red bean or plain

缽仔糕
SteamedCakes and pastryHot or coldKids like itWeekendEasyhands-on 25 min · start to finish 1 hr

“Steaming a cake, the one rule is never lift the lid.”

Ingredientsserves 4

雜貨舖Rice flour· from an Asian grocer, such as the Erawan red bag70 g
雜貨舖Wheat starch· one spoon is the limit; more makes the pudding hard and rubbery1 tbsp
雜貨舖Brown sugar· Australian raw sugar40 g
雜貨舖Sugar· white sugar or rock sugar40 g
百子櫃Adzuki bean· soaked overnight; or tinned red beans, drained60 g
雜貨舖Cooking oil· to grease the bowlsa little

Equipment

  • Eight small heatproof bowls: clay 缽仔, Chinese teacups or 6 cm ramekins
  • Two bamboo skewers to lift the puddings out

Method

  1. Soak the red beans overnight, then simmer for 40 minutes until a bean crushes between the fingers but still holds its shape; drain. Tinned red beans only need draining.
  2. Whisk the rice flour and wheat starch into half a cup (110 ml) of cold water until smooth.
  3. Bring the two sugars and two-thirds of a cup (140 ml) of water to the boil, then pour the boiling syrup into the batter in a thin stream, whisking, so it thickens slightly. This is 燙粉, scalding the flour: it is what keeps the beans from all sinking and gives the pudding its bounce. A hard, rubbery pudding means too much wheat starch or a batter that was not scalded.
  4. Oil the eight small bowls and set them in the steamer over boiling water for two minutes to heat; bowls that are not oiled and preheated make the pudding stick.
  5. Divide the beans among the hot bowls and pour in the batter to just below the rim.
  6. Steam over high heat for 20 to 25 minutes until set and translucent; a soft, mushy pudding means too much water or too little steaming. Lift out and cool for ten minutes.
  7. Run a skewer round the edge and lift each pudding out; the street stall does it with two bamboo sticks pushed in from the sides. Eat warm or at room temperature, the same day.
  8. The white-sugar version is plain and translucent; the brown-sugar one is the street classic; leave out the beans for the plain pudding.

Take care

  • Contains wheat (the wheat starch). The plain version has no egg or milk. The bowls and the steam are very hot; lift the bowls with a cloth or tongs.

The story

缽仔糕 is the school-gate pudding: the hawker lifted a little clay bowl from the steamer on his wooden cart, flicked the pudding out onto a bamboo skewer, and sold it for HK$1, and the ULifestyle and Weekend HK lists of nostalgic snacks both open with it. It is Cantonese, from 台山 and the streets of 廣州, and it is on every Hong Kong list of the snacks that are disappearing with the hawkers.

Same wall

Malay spongeWhite sugar rice cakeBlack sesame roll

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.