Teochew Rice Cakes
Crisp and Tender, Sweet and Savory
Teochew rice cake is a traditional folk recipe from the Teochew area of Guangdong. It is popular as a late-night street snack, and it has a unique preparation method. Controlling the duration and degree of cooking is very important in making Teochew rice cake to ensure that it has a crispy exterior and tender interior. Teochew rice cake is characterized by its golden-brown color, fragrant aroma, and taste that combines sweet, savory, and spicy flavors.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (500 grams) round rice flour
- 1.76 ounces (50 grams) Chinese kale
- 3.52 ounces (100 grams) shrimp
- 1 tomato
Seasonings
- 2 scant tablespoons (20 grams) sugar
- 1 heaping teaspoon (5 grams) salt
- 1 scant teaspoon (3 grams) chicken bouillon
- 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) satay
- appropriate amount of cooking oil
Cooking Directions
Preparations
- Wash Chinese kale. Blanch in boiling water until it changes color. Strain away excess water. Wash tomato. Cut into small wedges. Remove pith, leaving only meat. Remove heads from shrimp. Cut a slit down the backside of the shrimp and devein. Wash and strain away excess water.
How to make rice cakes
- Add 2 cups (500 milliliters) of water to round rice flour. Stir into a flour syrup.
- Add lots of water to steamer pot and bring to boil over high heat. Place small amount of flour syrup from step 2 in deep stainless-steel plate or pot. Swirl around in plate gently. Place stainless steel plate in steamer pot and steam over high heat for approximately 5 minutes, then add equal amount of flour syrup. Repeat the above steps until you've added all of the flour syrup, and then steam for another 10 minutes before removing from steamer pot.
- Set the steamed cake from step 3 to the side to cool. Then refrigerate until it becomes hard. Remove from refrigerator and cut into small triangle slices.
How to fry the rice cakes
- Heat pan. Add appropriate amount of cooking oil and heat up slightly over medium heat. Add cake slices from step 4. Reduce heat to low and fry cakes until both sides are golden brown. Add sugar and fry evenly. Remove from pan.
- Tip: Be sure to fry cakes over low heat. Also, the pan should be evenly heated. This will all ensure that the cakes are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Put it all together
- Wash pan and then heat it up again. Add appropriate amount of cooking oil. Bring oil to high temperature over medium heat, then add shrimp. Quick-fry until shrimp change color. Then add cakes from step 5 and fry briefly. Add salt, chicken bouillon, light soy sauce, fish sauce, and satay. Stir-fry together to mix flavors.
- Lay Chinese kale at bottom of plate. Arrange tomato wedges around edge of plate. Place fried rice cakes on Chinese kale. Serve.
Classic Technique
Traditionally, Teochew rice cake is made by mixing high-quality round rice into a syrup and then pouring it into a steamer basket with a white cloth at the bottom. It is then steamed layer by layer. Usually, Teochew rice cake is about 4 inches thick. After being steamed, Teochew rice cake is then set aside for one day to harden before it is cut into triangle slices. These slices are then fried until both sides are golden brown. Fresh shrimp, lean pork, oyster, egg, Chinese kale, and other ingredients are added according to taste, and seasoning ingredients like fish sauce, satay, and chili sauce are used in stir-frying. Fried Teochew rice cakes have a vibrant color, crispy exterior, tender interior, and a unique taste that combines sweet and savory flavors.