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White sugar rice cake

White sugar rice cake

白糖糕
SteamedCakes and pastryHot or coldWeekendMediumhands-on 20 min · start to finish 3 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 bag200 g
雜貨舖Sugar· white sugar, so the cake is white; not raw sugar150 g
雜貨舖Yeast· instant yeast, dissolved in two tablespoons of warm water3 g
雜貨舖Cooking oil· for the tin1 tsp

Equipment

  • A 20 cm round tin and a steamer it fits in

Method

  1. Whisk the rice flour into 160 ml of cold water to a smooth slurry.
  2. Boil the sugar with 200 ml of water until dissolved and at a rolling boil, then pour the boiling syrup into the slurry a little at a time, whisking; the batter thickens slightly.
  3. Let the batter cool to about 40°C, warm to the finger (about half an hour), before stirring in the dissolved yeast; hotter than that kills the yeast and the cake comes out dense with no holes, the step every Hong Kong recipe warns about.
  4. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm to ferment: one to two hours in a Hong Kong kitchen, two to three in an Australian winter (a switched-off oven with the light on, or the top of the fridge), until the surface is covered in fine bubbles and it smells faintly of wine.
  5. Stop as soon as the bubbles cover the surface: over-fermented batter turns sour and then bitter. A batter that smells strongly sour goes in the bin, not the steamer.
  6. Stir once, pour into the oiled 20 cm tin and steam over high heat for 25 minutes with the lid wrapped in a tea towel so no water drips on the top.
  7. Cool completely before cutting into diamonds; the cut face should show a fine honeycomb. Eat at room temperature or chilled, the same day.

Take care

  • No egg, milk or wheat (check the yeast sachet). The batter ferments at room temperature for hours: use clean bowls and film, and discard a batter that smells strongly sour rather than steaming it.

The story

白糖糕 comes from 倫教 in 順德; the Yahoo HK story is of a cake seller whose batter went off overnight and came out light and sour-sweet, and it travelled to Hong Kong with the 順德 cooks. It was a herbal-tea-shop and street-cart snack, sold in diamonds on a square of paper, and the fine honeycomb is the mark of a batch fermented exactly long enough.

Same wall

Malay spongeBowl pudding, red bean or plainBlack 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.