A colleague was telling me about how her mum makes yam cake for her whole family. It’s a massive effort, involving not just a lot of chopping but also a lot of arm strength to stir the yam paste. I personally love munching on yam cakes a lot, so I thought I might as well give it a try, especially since I’ll have to cook something for my dinners(ssss) next week anyway.
Ingredients:
- Yam: About 2 small ones (600g), diced
- Wheat starch/corn flour: 100g
- Rice flour: 400g
- Water: 5.5 cups
- Salt: 3 tsp
- White pepper: 1/2 tsp
- 5-spice powder: 1 tsp
- Oil: 3 tbsp
- Dried shrimp: 120g, roughly ground
- Dried mushroom: 120g, soaked in water for 1 hr, chopped
- Deep fried shallot: 50g
- Red chilli: 4, chopped
- Spring onion: 1 stalk, chopped
- White sesame seed: 1 tbsp (optional)
Method:
- Steam yam for 15min till cooked.
- Mix starch and flour with water. Stir till no more lumps are present.
- Stir in salt, pepper, 5-spice powder and 1 tbsp oil.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok.
- Add shrimps and mushrooms. Fry till fragrant.
- Add yam and fry for another 5min.
- Turn heat off. Add in flour mixture and keep stirring till a paste forms.
- Grease steaming pan with oil.
- Place yam mixture into pan. Press down and smoothen with back of spoon.
- Steam on high heat for 45min.
- To garnish, sprinkle with fried shallots, red chillies, spring onion and sesame seeds.
- Serve with sweet sauce or chilli.
Trick:
- Adding the condiments into the flour mixture first would allow for a better distribution of flavours.
Fiery rating:
👿
Serving:
About 12 – 15 slices (1 round cake pan or 2 loaf pans)
