This is the sticky rice pudding or in cantonese 'Nin Ko' that is a must during the Chinese New Year. It is offered to the Kitchen God on Chinese New Year's Eve, so that the sticky and sweet rice cake in his mouth will compel him to report to the God of Heaven, only good things about the household he visited. Traditionally this rice cake is made when everyone is asleep. Talkative children and pregnant women have to stay away from the kitchen or else this cake will not turn brown or be cooked. A joss-stick is lit as the cake is steamed in a huge wok over a wood fired stove for 12 hours. If the cake does not turn brown in 12 hours, a big chopper is put beside the stove. It is believed that by doing so, the pudding will turn brown. Thank goodness for the pressure cooker this task needs only 45 minutes and assured brown puddings.
Ingredients:
13 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp water
120 gm glutinous rice flour
6 tbsp water
3 x 3 inch diameter tins - greased and line with banana leaves
Method:
Melt 5 tbsp sugar to obtain caramel, remove from fire and add in 5 tbsp cold water.
Add in the rest of the sugar(8 tbsp) and continue cooking until sugar dissolves. Leave to cool.
Mix glutinous rice flour with 6 tbsp water to form a soft dough(I had to add 2 more tbsp) .
Leave to prove for 15 mins, then mix into the syrup. Sieve to remove lumps.
Pour pudding mixture into banana leave lined tins.
Boil 1 ½ bowls of water in pressure cooker with a trivet, place in the filled pudding tins, cover and bring pressure to high, lower the fire to low and pressurized for 45 minutes.
Serves
Friday, February 09, 2007
Nin Ko/New Year Prosperity Pudding
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48 comments:
Hi Lily,
I am a Malaysian living in England. I am in the early stages of my pregnancy and have very bad cravings for Malaysian food. Your blog has been a God-sent. I can't wait to try all your recipes!p.s. can't find a recipe for hokkien black mee itself, although there is a recipe for the noodles itself.
Hi Lily,
Been missing you! Glad you are back! Your Nian Gau looks delicious!
Gong Hei Fatt Choy to you and your family!!!
Ah, finally I can leave a comment. Very smart of you to use pressure cooker to make this. Can't wait to see the real thing at your house.
anonymous
i have cooked black hokkien mee many times but yet to find time to post it. For you i will post asap. I would suggest you use japanese udon to sub the fat noodles.
Tricia
i am back but still too busy to post. is having so much problem with the comments as i have to guessed which comment is to which post. what is happening to Blogger???
Ching,
The real thing is really delicious, does not stick to your teeth too much. back home in malaysia, i hate them cos they have a funny smell, perhaps it's the type of sugar they used.
comments are still not coming to email.
Hi Lily,
Where have you been?
I made nin gao couple days ago with red beans. Lazy me just stuck the whole dang thing into the oven and baked it for an hour; it turned out fine.
Winnie
winnie
In fact i wanted to make the nian gao recipe that you gave me. The packet of Mochiko was bought as soon as i got the recipe but somehow did not get to make them.
i found this traditional nin ko recipe from a recipe book - oriental cooking with the pressure cooker and decided to give it a go. thank goodness it turned out deliciously.
Koong hei fatt choy
Lily... Thanks for your information. i always thought my mum say that to keep us quiet. i remember it was a very tidious affair to make nien kao, but with your recipe, made it in 1 1/2 hr..oh... so excited to see the end result. such a beautiful colour. Happy chinese new year to you.
sunchen
do let me know how your nin ko turned out.
happy chinese new year to you
lily,... you are the best. my nin ko turned out very nice and brown. its so delicious. Just wonder, have you ever made moon cake, the one with white soft skin. thanks
sunchen
i do have it - it is called green tea ping pei mooncake. i have made a colorful ones but yet to post it. Another one, using the same ingredients but not a mooncake - Empress roll
Thanks lily.. I will try to make the empress roll, as it is the skin that i like the most.
Hi, I am a Malaysian student studying in the UK, and I want to try your nin ko recipe. However, I do not have a pressure cooker. Is there any other alternative method I can use, such as steaming or baking etc?
Thank you! :)
anonymous
yes you could certainly steam them as that is the original way that they are done.
i will be trying out a recipe which my friend winnie gave and it is baked.
sunchen
i could not tag your last comment to which cake that you baked.
could you post the comment again and please do mention the recipe you are refering to.
i don't know why the comments i published do not come to my email and it is most frustrating trying to figure out which recipe to tag the comments.
thanks
Just want to say I had the pleasure of tasting this nin ko at lily's house and it was delicious! She served it with freshly shredded coconut. YUM!
lily,
I 've been your silent reader for quite a while and i have follow quite a few of your recipes.
But on this recipes, I don't have a preasure cooker at home, if i use steaming, how long should i steam?
anonymous
yes, you could steam and test for doneness, the color would be brown cos the sugar is caramelized.
hello lily
I have an electric pressure cooker - will it work to make the nin ngo? How long do I cook and pressure to high and then lower? Please advise.
thanks
pat
pat
i must be very behind. i don't know about electric pressure cooker. have been using the ones that is stovetop. the pressure will build up and once it is on high, the fire/heat can be lowered and the high pressure will maintain.
what is needed is to pressurized on high for 45 minutes.
I have an electric pressure cooker too but have not tried your nian ko recipe.
Just a thought - if you use tins (empty canned food tins) in a pressure cooker, will it explode? Just want to check first - might be a stupid question :-)
anonymous
the cans are used as a mould to shape the ko so don't worry it will nto explode
hi lily,
I wanted to know whether a normal steamer can be used as I don't have a preesure cooker...
Best Regards,
Jun Wei
jun we
you can use the steamer to steam and it has to take very much longer
Hellooo
Can I ask, did you submerge the tins in the water or did you raise it above the water in the pressure cooker? :)
I just got a pressure cooker and was surfing the net for recipes when Ifound your nian ko recipe much to my surprise and excitement! :oD
Su
su
as mentioned a trivet is used for the tins to sit on
Just finished trying your nin ko. It did turn out well, especially the colour. But it splatered out...can u please tell me what had i gone wrong...is it the fire too high? I have tried your mua chee and taro cake and it turned out so yummy!!!My husband and my pair of children was so delighted that i learnt it from your blog. They complimented you that you are very generous in sharing your recipe. They join me in thanking you for all your lovely and yummy recipe.
Patricia Lee
Gooday Lily,
Just wanna know whether the all purpose flour that you use in your recipe is the same type of normal ordinary flour that i get in malaysia? Wanted to try most of your recipe every single day. Once again thank you very much for your sharing!!!!!!!!
Patricia Lee
patricia
all purpose flour is plain/ordinary flour in malaysia.
the nin koh will rise, so do not fill up too much. high heat make it rise higher but it will settle when cooled.
Auntie Lily,
can i use gula melaka instead of white sugar? ive been craving dishes n goodies made with gula melaka bcoz it smells so good. =)
panda257
of course you can
Hello Lily,
Can I use aluminium food container instead of tins? Should I also layer it with banana leaves? Should I grease the aluminium food container?
Hello Lily,
Can I use aluminium food container instead of baking pan? Should I grease and layer with banana leaves?
anonymous
yes, absolutely, you can use the aluminium food containers. it would be better to grease first but if the banana leaves are thick enough, then without greasing the leaves will dislodge easily
Thank you Lily. Once last question before I start steaming the nien gao, can I not use the banana leaves on the aluminium foil? But I will grease the foil before steaming for easy removal of the cake.
anonymous
if you have greased it well and if you leave the nian gao to harden, then it should come off the foil easily. it depends on how you wish to eat this nian gao.
hi lily!
thanks for replying to my email...
can i use cling wrap to line the tin?
if i use banana leaf, do i have to boil it first?
u're so talented!!
hanni
hey lily.. I've made more than ten items from your blog and a lot turned out very good, Good for me to cook for my loved one. *wink.. I want to know if there is a difference between glutinuous rice flour and rice flour?
august almighty
rice flour is milled from long grain, short grain or jasmine rice and glutinous rice is from sweet rice or glutinous rice which is sometimes called 'sticky rice'
Hi Lily
I don't have a pressure cooker and will be trying out the recipe using the steaming method. Should I use high, Medium or Low heat? What's the estimated steaming time 1 or 2 hours) for Chinese rice bowl size Nin Ko? Lastely, how to check for doneness. Pls advise. Gong Xi Fa Cai! Thanks Esther
esther
i have not made without the pressure cooker and i have seen recipes using the conventional steaming method and it should take at least 4 hours at medium heat. remember to check the water for steaming, when it gets low, replenish with hot water. The nin ko should be cooked if a skewer poke into the center comes out clean and when pressed no liquid will ooze out.
Hi lily i tried to make this nin ko and the color was good but the edges were protruding, like it was more sunk in the middle. Do u know why this is happening? Thanks
anonymous
i think the heat must be too high. Try cooking the batter over low heat until thick, then pour in the cook in the pressure cooker.
Hi lily thank you for your fast reply. I had the same reasoning too but my fire was really low...and also, is your nin ko very sticky? Mine was really sticky...thank you again and happy new year
I have been craving this for a long time. Have not yet got a chance to make it... miss it .. we normally steam it and eat with grated coconut or deep fry with taro. Happy CNY!
Hi Lily..ur receipes r great... do u hav love letters receipe?
jo
i think i have gave you the link in facebook. anyway here it is again http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2010/01/kuih-kapit.html
Hi lily,
I wonder if i can I steam it in a ramekin? Gong hei fatt choy to you and your family.
PC
pc
sure, you can use the remekins.
gong hei fatt choy to you and family
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