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Coconut and split-pea pudding

Coconut and split-pea pudding

椰汁馬豆糕
SteamedCakes and pastryServed coldFor guestsKids like itWeekendEasyhands-on 30 min · start to finish 1 hr 30 min

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

Ingredientsserves 4

百子櫃Split peas· soaked three hours100 g
雜貨舖Coconut milk· full-fat coconut milk, not light400 ml
雜貨舖Evaporated milk100 ml
雜貨舖Sugar120 g
雜貨舖Cornflour· cornflour; the Australian supermarket packet is wheaten unless it says 100 percent corn80 g

Equipment

  • A 20 cm square tin, wetted

Method

  1. Simmer the soaked peas in fresh water for 40 minutes, then cover, turn off the heat and leave for 40 minutes until they burst and go floury; drain. Peas that were not soaked, or were cut short, stay hard in the pudding.
  2. Whisk the cornflour into the coconut milk until there are no lumps; if there are, sieve it, or the pudding is grainy.
  3. Bring a cup and a half (400 ml) of water, the sugar and the evaporated milk to a simmer until the sugar dissolves.
  4. Turn to low and pour in the cornflour and coconut slurry in a stream, stirring without stopping, until it thickens and just bubbles, heavy enough to coat the spoon; a slurry that is not cooked to the bubble will not set and weeps when cut.
  5. Stir in the peas, pour into the wetted 20 cm square tin, smooth the top, cool, cover and chill overnight.
  6. Cut into cubes and serve cold. Set with cornflour the pudding keeps its coconut fragrance; gelatine sets faster and firmer but loses it, and too much cornflour makes it rubbery.
  7. 椰汁紅豆糕: leave out the peas and use half a cup of red beans, soaked overnight and simmered soft, stirred through or laid as a layer on the bottom of the tin; 椰汁糕: add nothing at all, set the base in the tin and cut it into diamonds, and that is the square from the teahouse dessert cart.

Take care

  • Contains milk (evaporated milk); wheat if the cornflour is wheaten. Contains coconut. A set milk-and-starch pudding: refrigerate within two hours and eat within three days.

The story

椰汁馬豆糕 is the New Year and party pudding of the Hong Kong home, the tray in the fridge cut into cubes for visitors; the 椰汁糕 on the teahouse dessert cart is its cousin, from the same square tin. Christine's Recipes notes that children love the coconut and the sweetness of the peas, which is why almost every Hong Kong family has a version.

Same wall

Malay spongeBowl pudding, red bean or plainWhite sugar rice cake

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.