Soft & Bouncy Chinese Water Chestnut Cake
One of the most popular dim sum must-tries is Chinese water chestnut cake. It is a soft and jiggly cake with a hint of crunch of diced water chestnuts.To make this homemade Chinese dessert, you need diced water chestnuts, water chestnut flour, and a brown sugar slab.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 cup fresh water chestnuts
- 1 cup water chestnut flour
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup of brown sugar slab
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- 1
Prepare The Mixture
- 2
If using fresh water chestnuts, peel off the skin and dice them finely. I like to make them into tiny bits to make it easier to chew and fit into the small molds.
- 3
Take your 6 equal cups and divide them into 2 parts:
- 4
3 cups for water chestnut micture, 1 cup water chestnut flour, 2 cups water
- 5
3 cups for brown sugar mixture, 1 cup of brown sugar slab, 2 cups water
- 6
Next, dissolve 1 cup of water chestnut flour in 2 cups of water.
- 7
Mix well and strain the mixture to make it smoother. This separates large granule particles and leaves you with a smoother mixture. If you have large granules, the translucent appearance will be affected.
- 8
Then, place the brown sugar slab in a pan and dissolve it with 2 cups of water on medium heat.
- 9
Stir continuously and let the brown sugar melt completely.
- 10
Once the sugar is completely melted, turn off the heat.
- 11
Afterward, give the flour water mixture a good mix and add a spoonful of flour water to the brown sugar water.
- 12
As you add the flour water mixture, make sure to stir immediately. The brown sugar mixture should become sticky and syrupy.
- 13
Stir well and let it cool to around 80 degrees (176°F).
- 14
Then, combine the brown sugar water with the flour water mixture.
- 15
Add the chopped water chestnuts and stir thoroughly.
- 16
Make The Cake Shape
- 17
Pour the mixture into your chosen mold.
- 18
Next, prepare a steamer with water and let it boil.
- 19
Steam for 5 minutes once the water boils.
- 20
For the second batch, steam another plate of your chosen mold. In my video, I used fish mold for the second batch.
- 21
Allow them to cool before unmolding.
- 22
Once it is cooled, it should pop out easily with chopsticks. If you are in a rush, you can unmold it faster by freezing the mold for half an hour.A cooled cake should be jiggly and firm, not wet.
- 23
If you used a larger square or rectangular mold, you can then cut the mold into smaller sizes according to your desired shape and size.
- 24
Enjoy a smooth and crunchy cake of water chestnuts with the family!