Taro Cake – 芋頭糕,

Taro cake is another must have for the Lunar New Year celebration. It symbolizes moving upward, job promotion, and children will grow taller! Unlike Turnip cake, a small pinch of five-spice powder in the Taro cake batter is like Bonnie and Clyde, or Bacon and Egg as a perfect pair. Usually we don’t eat it right away after cooking. An excellent way to enjoy Taro cake is to pan fry it lightly and dip in chili sauce in the next day.

芋頭糕 Taro cake

材料 (Ingredients) ：

芋頭1200克 Taro 1200g

臘腸 2條 Chinese sausage 2pc

膶腸 2條 Liver sausage 2pc

蝦米 60克 Dried shrimp 60g

豬油 60克 Lard 60g or regular oil

乾蔥絲 60克 Dried shallot 60g

清水 600克 (煮芋頭用) Water 600g (cook taro)

清水 200 克(開粉用) Water 200g (mix rice flour)

 鹽 12克 Salt 12g

糖 12克 Sugar 12g

雞粉 12克 Chicken powder 12g

五香粉 4克 Five spice powder 4g

黑椒碎 5克 Black pepper 5g

粘米粉 200克 Rice flour 200克

Method:

Cut whole taro to half (from top to bottom direction), and cut to ½ inch thick pieces.  Put the cut taro on a cookie tray with a rack. 

Use high heat to steam taro for 20 minutes. Take it out and let it cool off.

Use medium heat to steam sausages and dry shrimp for 20 minutes. (For easy cutting). Cut to small pieces after cooling.

Put two teaspoons of oil in a frying pan, (medium heat) pan fry the cutup sausages and dry shrimp for three minutes. Place the fried sausage in a large bowl for later use. Set aside.

Add two teaspoon of oil in the pan, transfer all the chopped shallots using medium heat to fry shallot till golden brown color.  Transfer the fried shallot to the bowl with the sausage and dry shrimp.

In the same frying pan, use hand to break up the already steamed taro to smaller pieces.  Turn heat to medium high, add 600gm of water and put in chicken powder, salt, black pepper and five spice powder.  Cook the mixture till boiling and turn heat down to low.  Turn heat off once the content starts to boil.

Add rice flour (200gm) and water (200gm) to the large bowl with the sausage and shallot, mix really well until no clumps are visible. 

Use a ladle to transfer 1/3 of the cooked taro to the rice flour mixture mix really well. Add another 1/3 of taro mixture to the rice flour, mix well.  Finally transfer the entire taro to the bowl with the rice flour.  Mix it well completely. 

Transfer the taro/batter mixture to a container.  Use medium high heat to steam for 1 1/2 hour. You can reduce the cook time if you use a shallow cake pan.

Let it cool off after steaming for at least 4-5 hours before cutting.

For best eating experience, use a frying pan to lightly fry the taro cake slices till the two sides become golden brown. Serve with hot sauce!

Mix the rice flour with water

Break up the taro after steaming it for 20 minutes

Sauté shallot till translucent, put in a big bowl

Cut up the dry shrimp, sausage and preserved pork belly after steaming it for 20 minutes. Put it in the same frying pan after the shallot has been remove.

Add 600 gm of water to the frying pan with the breakup taro along with the seasonings, bring to boil for about 5 minutes.

Transfer the rice flour batter to the bowl with the shallot and chopped sausage/shrimp/pork belly, mix well

Use a large ladle to transfer 1/3 of the taro mixture to the rice flour batter, mix quickly to avoid cooking the batter all at once.

Transfer another 1/3 of the taro mixture to the bowl with the batter , mix well and finish adding the final 1/3 to the bowl.

Pour the taro mixture into a cake pan

Cover the pan with a saran wrap and steam over medium high heat for 1 1/2 hour

Remove cake pan from the steamer, add scallion and cilantro on top. Allow the taro cake to cool off for at least 4-5 hours before cutting into smaller portion for easy cutting