Kitchen Recipe Collection
Water Chestnut Cake (Matai Gao)
A refreshing, translucent, golden-brown dim sum dessert cake. It boasts a perfectly bouncy, slightly chewy texture (thanks to water chestnut flour) loaded with crunchy bits of fresh water chestnut.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 60 min
- Servings
- 8
- Difficulty
- medium
- Cuisine
- Chinese
Ingredients
Scaled for 8 servings
- 1 cup water chestnut flour (Matai Fen) - usually sold in small cardboard boxes
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup Chinese brown slab sugar (Pian Tang)
- 1 cup fresh water chestnuts, peeled and roughly chopped into small pieces
- Oil for pan-frying
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Steamer
- 8x8 inch pan
Instructions
- 1
Mix Flour Slurry
In a bowl, whisk the water chestnut flour with 1 cup of cold water until completely smooth. Set aside.
- 2
Boil Sugar
In a saucepan, bring the remaining 2 cups of water and the brown slab sugar to a boil. Simmer until the sugar is entirely dissolved.
- 3
Add Chestnuts
Stir the chopped fresh water chestnuts into the boiling sugar syrup.
- 4
Temper the Slurry
Turn the heat to the lowest setting. Give the cold flour slurry a stir. Slowly pour about 1/4 cup of the hot sugar syrup into the cold slurry, stirring rapidly.
- 5
Combine and Thicken
Now, pour the warmed slurry mixture slowly back into the saucepan of simmering sugar syrup, stirring continuously.
- 6
Cook Paste
The mixture will rapidly thicken into a thick, highly sticky, translucent, amber-colored paste. Remove from heat immediately.
- 7
Mold
Grease an 8x8 inch pan. Pour the thick paste into the pan and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
- 8
Steam
Steam over high heat for 30 minutes until the cake is completely translucent and firm.
- 9
Chill Completely
Let it cool, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours until it sets into a sliceable, rubbery block.
- 10
Slice
Cut the cold cake into rectangular pieces.
- 11
Pan-fry
Heat a little oil in a pan. Fry the slices for 2-3 minutes per side.
- 12
Serve
Serve warm. The outside will be crispy and caramelized, while the inside remains bouncy and crunchy.
Cooking Tips
- You MUST use specific 'Water Chestnut Flour'. Regular flour, cornstarch, or tapioca starch will not replicate the unique bouncy texture.
- The partial cooking of the batter in the saucepan (Step 5) ensures the chopped water chestnuts remain suspended rather than sinking to the bottom during steaming.
Variations
- Osmanthus Water Chestnut: Add dried osmanthus flowers to the sugar syrup for a floral variation.
Nutrition Estimate
140 calories · 1g protein · 32g carbs · 1g fat · 1g fiber per serving
