Name: Cantonese-style water chestnut cake, a little sweetness on an autumn afternoon
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 hr

Cantonese-style water chestnut cake is a delightful treat that brings a little sweetness to an autumn afternoon. This traditional Chinese dessert is loved for its unique texture and delicate flavor. Water chestnut cake, also known as "ma ti gao" in Cantonese, is made from fresh water chestnuts that are finely grated and mixed with rice flour, sugar, and water. The mixture is then steamed until it solidifies into a smooth and jelly-like consistency. The cake has a refreshing taste with a subtle sweetness that is not overpowering. It has a slightly crisp texture from the water chestnut bits dispersed throughout the soft cake. The combination of flavors and textures makes it an ideal dessert to enjoy during the autumn season.

It has to be said that water chestnut cake is another famous dish in Cantonese tea snacks. Whenever you go to a teahouse, you will basically order this water chestnut cake.

In fact, when I was at home, I once made Cantonese-style water chestnut cake, but I chose the water chestnut powder from "Pantang" and it actually failed.

Later, I read some tutorials on Little Red Book, which said that using "zhouxing" water chestnut powder is also friendly to novices. When I happened to go to NYC, I took a box back to the village.

Water: 1500 ml

Water chestnut powder: 250g

Yellow sugar: 200 grams

Water chestnut: 100g

1. Peel and clean fresh water chestnuts, cut into small pieces and set aside.

2. Divide the water into two parts: 700ml and 800ml, set aside

3. Pour the water chestnut powder into a large basin, add 800 grams of water, stir thoroughly and filter twice to obtain raw water chestnut powder slurry.

4. Pour the chopped water chestnuts into the raw water chestnut powder slurry and mix evenly.

5. Pour 700ml of water into the pot, add 200g of yellow sugar, bring to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of raw water chestnut powder, stir while adding, stir it into a cooked powder like a thick gravy when cooking. Can turn off the fire

6. Pour the cooked slurry powder into the raw water chestnut slurry powder while it is hot, and stir quickly while adding it to make a semi-cooked slurry. Be sure to stir evenly.

7. Grease the container with a little oil, pour in the half-cooked slurry, put it into the pot and steam over high heat for 20-30 minutes.

8. After cooling, you can unmold and cut into pieces.

Let’s share some issues that need to be paid attention to during the production process:

❶ Step 3: When mixing the raw pulp powder, be sure to stir it thoroughly so that it cannot appear granular. It is best to sift it twice.

❷ Step 5: Before pouring the raw slurry into the cooked sugar water, be sure to stir it to prevent the slurry from sinking to the bottom.

❸ Step 5: After pouring in the raw pulp powder, be sure to stir quickly and continuously, otherwise it will form transparent pimples and the taste will be compromised.

❹ The container must be greased with oil to facilitate demolding.

❺ After steaming, wait until it is completely cool before pouring it out

The texture of the water chestnut cake is elastic, sweet and glutinous. It even trembles when you pick it up. It is translucent and can be folded without breaking. It is soft, smooth, refreshing and tough. This is the perfect water chestnut. cake.