Kitchen Recipe Collection
Sweet Sticky Rice Cake (Nian Gao)
The ultimate Chinese New Year dessert. A dense, sticky, deeply caramelized cake made from glutinous rice flour and brown slab sugar. Served freshly steamed, or chilled and pan-fried with egg.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 60 min
- Total
- 75 min
- Servings
- 8
- Difficulty
- medium
- Cuisine
- Chinese
Ingredients
Scaled for 8 servings
- 2 cups glutinous rice flour
- 1/2 cup regular wheat starch (or rice flour, to give it slight structure)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup Chinese brown slab sugar (Pian Tang) or dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- Optional: Red dates for decoration
- For Pan-frying: 1 beaten egg
Equipment
- Steamer
- 8-inch round cake pan
Instructions
- 1
Melt Sugar
Boil the water in a saucepan. Add the brown sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.
- 2
Mix Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together the glutinous rice flour and wheat starch.
- 3
Make Batter
Slowly pour the cooled sugar syrup into the flour, whisking continuously until you have a smooth, thick, lump-free batter. Stir in the oil.
- 4
Prepare Pan
Generously grease an 8-inch round cake pan with oil.
- 5
Pour
Pour the batter into the pan.
- 6
Decorate
If using, arrange a few red dates symmetrically on top of the batter.
- 7
Steam
Place the pan in a steamer over rapidly boiling water. Cover and steam for 1 hour.
- 8
Test Doneness
Insert a chopstick into the center. It should come out clean, and the cake will look glossy and dark brown.
- 9
Cooling
The cake is extremely sticky when hot. Let it cool completely to room temperature, then wrap and refrigerate it overnight to firm up.
- 10
Slice
Once the cake is firm, cut it into rectangular slices.
- 11
Egg Dip (The Best Way to Eat)
Dip the slices in the beaten egg to coat completely.
- 12
Pan-fry
Pan-fry the egg-coated slices in a lightly oiled pan over medium heat until the outside is golden and the inside is melting, stretchy, and warm.
Cooking Tips
- Chinese slab sugar (Pian Tang) provides a very specific rich, caramel/molasses flavor that regular brown sugar can't quite match.
- Pan-frying the chilled cake with an egg coating provides a savory, crispy contrast to the sweet, sticky, gooey interior.
Variations
- Coconut Nian Gao: Replace half the water with coconut milk and use white sugar instead of brown.
Nutrition Estimate
220 calories · 3g protein · 48g carbs · 2g fat · 1g fiber per serving
