My mom showed me how to make these sweet rice cakes a while ago, but it has taken me some time to practice and streamline the recipe. In her recipe, my mom bakes the rice cakes so that they would be less greasy once cooked. However, I prefer the rice cakes pan fried, which creates a lovely golden crust on the cakes. In the recipe below, I outline both cooking methods.
COOKING NOTES FOR SWEET RICE CAKES
MAKING DOUGH WITH HOT WATER
For this recipe, you’ll need to make a very pliable dough that can easily wrap around the red bean paste filling. The way to make a stretchy dough with glutinous rice flour is to mix the flour with boiling hot water. Using cold or warm water won’t work.
A STICKY DOUGH
This dough is incredibly sticky. Mama Lin recommends spraying your hands generously with cooking spray before working with the dough. As a matter of fact, it’s also a good idea to grease any plate, spatula, or measuring spoon that touches the dough. Oil doesn’t work as well as cooking spray. I tried greasing my hands with oil when testing the recipe, and I found I had to constantly reapply more oil to my hands. I suspect the soy or sunflower lecithin present in cooking sprays helps keep the dough from sticking to my hands for a longer period.
USING GLUTINOUS RICE FLOUR
Do not use regular rice flour, as the dough will not become pliable. If glutinous rice flour is difficult for you to find, you can use sweet rice flour (such as Mochiko or this one from Bob’s Red Mill).
LEARNING FROM MY MISTAKES
During my test batches, I made quite a few mistakes. I wanted to share them here so the same thing doesn’t happen to you! I thought baking the cakes for a longer period (20 minutes total) would brown them. I was wrong. Instead, the red bean paste started leaking from the bottoms of the cakes. Keep an eye on the cakes when pan frying them because they can burn easily. I tried pan frying the cakes on a cast iron pan, thinking this would create a better crust on the cakes. However, I found it difficult to control the heat of the cast iron pan. Some cakes were charred while others didn’t brown evenly. That’s why I recommend using a nonstick pan for this recipe.
OTHER RECIPES USING GLUTINOUS RICE FLOUR
Savory Tang Yuan (湯圓) Vegan Savory Tang Yuan Steamed Nian Gao (年糕, New Year’s Cake) Baked Nian Gao Fat Goh (發糕, Prosperity Cake)
