Pan-Fried Version Original version Cold version
The hot weather in Singapore reminded me of one of my favorite Dim Sum, the cooling Water Chestnut Cake. When I was younger, I used to patron this steamboat buffet restaurant, where they will give out to every guest one serving of each: fried dumpling, Xiao Long Bao, deep-fried Mantou (with condensed milk) and Pan-fried Water Chestnut Cake coated with icing sugar. I still recalled how I am always left hungering for more of their Dim Sum (as one serving is not sufficient), so I will find my way back to the restaurant again… (cheap tricks but it works!). The Pan-Fried Water Chestnut Cake with the cooling icing sugar tastes heavenly, it was crunchy (with the fresh water chestnut) and felt cooling (as opposed to the rest which are hot version). One piece was hardly sufficient for me.
Turning the clock forward now, I missed the Cooling Water Chestnut Cake. Last time I am a true-blood sugar person. Now I am a changed person. I decided to make my own Water Chestnut Cake that is less sweet, for old times sake.
To make this Dim Sum dessert, the steps are pretty straight-forward and easy. But you need 2 important ingredients: Water Chestnut and Water Chestnut flour. The Water Chestnut four can be bought from Phoon Huat. In Christine’s Recipe, she strongly recommends this brand below (But it seems this is the only brand for water chestnut flour available in the market). For the fresh water chestnut, I chopped into tiny pieces (I realised I did not chopped tiny enough, so that when I cut the cake, the chestnut will prop out).
Another worthy point to note is the color of the cake will depends on the kind of sugar you use. I have run through many recipes like GuaiShuShu, Christine’s, Anncoojournal, ChinaSiChuanFood, some use white sugar, brown sugar or rock sugar. If you use white sugar, you will get a light yellowish-white cake; brown sugar will yield a browish color cake (like mine), or you can choose to use 50:50 white and brown sugar. Original recipe calls for 100 grams of Sugar. I used 65 grams of sugar in my cooking as I am cutting down on my sugar intake, but I recommend 80 grams for a sweeter tastes below.
Most recipes uses just water chestnut flour, water chestnut and sugar. Christine added corn flour, this will make the cake smoother and also as a thickener. But I omitted the oil (which is also to make the batter more smooth) for healthy reasons.
To make the steamed cake is so simple:
First boil half the water with brown sugar, then add in the chopped water chestnut to cook, bring liquid to a boil.
Separately, dissolve the flours with remaining half of the water. Then pour into the boiling water and stir well. Keep stirring. Once thickens, off the heat.
Pour the batter into a greased pan. Level the top of the batter.
Put into steamer with boiling water and boil for 30 mins or until you poke a satay stick in and comes out clean. Off heat. Take our cake and cool down. You can either eat it warm, or eat it cold (put inside the fridge) or pan-fry it.
I tried pan-frying it without oil, it works as well! But with a little bit of oil, the cake is more crispy and taste better. The cold version is very refreshing too.
Water Chestnut Cake (Cold or Pan-Fried) Recipe
Preparation Time: 30 mins. Serves 6 pax
Recipe adapted from Christine’s Recipe.
Ingredients
600 mls Water
100 grams Water Chestnut Flour
2 tsp Cornflour
80 grams Brown Sugar (or 40 grams white sugar, 40 grams brown sugar) [original recipe use 100 grams]
6 fresh Water Chestnut chopped
Method
- Chopped the fresh water chestnut into small pieces (like chopped garlic into tiny pieces) and set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add in 300 mls of water and sugar to dissolve the sugar first. Then add in chopped water chestnut to cook it. Bring liquid to a boil.
- While waiting for saucepan’s liquid to boil, in a separate bowl, add water chestnut flour and cornflour and 300 mls of water, mixed well to dissolve the flour. Pour this mixture into the saucepan once the liquid inside is boiling. As you pour the flour mixture into the saucepan, keep stirring. The paste will thicken quite quickly, constant stirring will prevent the paste at the bottom of the saucepan from getting stuck or burnt.
- Once the paste thickens, off the heat. Pour the paste into a lightly greased (with vegetable oil) pan, use a spoon to level the top of paste. Let it rest for 10 mins while you boil water in a steamer. Steam for 30 mins under high heat or when you poke in a satay stick and comes out clean. Let it cool down before you un-mould it.
- It can be eaten warm, cold or pan fried with a little oil. Enjoy!