Hellooo there! Today we’re making “Nian Gao” a sticky cake that EVERYONE must have during Chinese New Year, and you know why???
The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning “sticky”, is identical in sound to 年, meaning “year”, and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning “cake” is identical in sound to 高, meaning “high or tall”. As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng). Other names for these lucky rice cakes include kuih bakul, teekuih and kue keranjang.

I still remembers my first sticky cake. “I was really little, and the smell was just overwhelming – sweet but not too sweet. It filled the whole house.” I can say the cake – slabs or shapes of sweetened glutinous rice – is still among my favourite foods. “There’s nothing quite like it!”

This sweet and sticky rice cake is readily available only once a year during the Chinese New Year season (you can imagine how I will miss it so much :P), however the nian gao can be kept quite long time. My mom usually buy a lot of Nian Gao in bulk, cut and then stored in the freezer for up to a year.

Traditionally, making Nian Gao involves 3 simple ingredients, however it takes a VERY long time to cook. It was a tough work to produce this cake, 10-12 hours of steaming 😛 Did I just give you a heart attack?
Don’t worry, this recipe only need a short steaming time, so what are you waiting for, learn the secret in the video–enjoy!

NIAN GAO
Yield: three 5-inch round containers
Active times: 1 hour
Total time: 3 hours

INGREDIENTS
Banana Leaves
3 crushed Pandan Leaves
1/2 teaspoon Salt
380 grams Gula Melaka
120 grams Granulated Sugar
500 ml Water
200 ml Coconut Milk
600 grams Glutinous Rice Flour
Zest of one Orange (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS
Banana Leaves

1. Soften banana leaves by boiling them in hot water for about 10 minutes.
2. Cut the softened banana leaves to size and line the inside of container.

Batter

1. Mix gula melaka and water in a pot, add the salt and crushed pandan leaves. Bring to boil until gula melaka dissolves, then add the granulated sugar.
2. Stir in the coconut milk into the gula melaka mixture and mix well. Then sieve the mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool down.
3. In a large bowl, sieve glutinous rice flour. Slowly add the cooled down gula melaka mixture a little at a time and mix well, then sieve mixture into a pot.
4. Cook batter over low heat till batter thickens, add the orange zest.
5. Slowly pour the thickened batter into the coconut leaves lined containers. Arrange containers in a steamer and steam at low heat for 2 hours, top up water when the water level drops in the steamer.
6. After 2 hours, turn off the heat. Leave containers in the hot steamer for several hours to make use of the residual heat. Thereafter, remove it from steamer and set aside to cool down.
7. Once it has cooled down, loosen the sides with a spatula. Place a plate over it and turn over, cut it with grease oil knife.

NOTES

1. Increase the amount of sugar if you prefer Nian Gao to be sweeter.
2. Nian Gao can be stored at room temperature for a day or two, in the refrigerator for up to a week, or in the freezer for several months.
3. Ensure it cools completely and is wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or an airtight container to prevent drying out. 
4. Thaw frozen Nian Gao in the refrigerator before reheating.
5. To reheat, you can steam the Nian Gao until it softens or pan-fry it until crispy. 
6. Fried Nian Gao can be reheated in a toaster, oven, or air fryer.