Chinese Pumpkin Rice Cake

This pumpkin rice cake is prepared by steaming. The shape looks like a pumpkin, too.

It mixes pumpkin with sticky rice powder, stuffed by red bean mud. It's a gluten free recipe. This cake dessert looks lovely with smooth and soft texture. It's healthy Chinese dessert recipe.

Benefit of pumkin rice cake

Both glutinous rice powder and pumpkin are warm. This rice pumpkin cake warms up your stomach and spleen. Eating some at this season will help you to store energy to pass the winter.

(Note: You can ignore Filling-making part and buy ready small red bean paste).

Step by step pictoral guide instructions

Ingredients: For red bean fillings (for 20 servings) 1/2 cup small red bean 2 tbsp sugar For cake skin (for 4 servings) 1/2 cup glutinous rice powder 1/8 cup corn starch 1/4 cup pumpkin, cooked 1 green bean, split and cut into 4 thin strips	Preparation: For fillings: 1. Wash small red bean, soak two hours or overnight. Water covers about 1 inch higher than the red beans. 2. Place red bean in a heat-proof basin, steam for 60-90mins. Don't add additional water in the red bean.	3. Place small red bean and sugar in a blender.Blend. Heat oil in a wok. Add mashed small red bean mud and a tablespoon cornstarch. Stir fry till dry. Pour in a big bowl. This is red bean fillings.

For cake skin 1. Wash pumpkin, remove seeds.	Cut into 5,6 blocks.	2. Place in a heat proof bowl. Steam for 15-20mins. 3. After cool, peel, mash.

4. Mix glutinous rice powder, wheat starch, and mashed pumpkin.	Knead into a dough.	5. Roll the dough into long strip.

Cut into four same size small dough.	6. Take one small dough, make a hole at the center. Add 1 tsp red bean paste.	Seal, roll into cylinder shape. Repeat the rest three dough.

7. On one end of the cylinder shape dough, press 5 curved line by using a teaspoon.	Finish the rest three.	8. Insert a piece of green bean strip at the top center.

9  Arrange on the tray of a steamer (cover a piece of gauze on the tray). Steam for 10mins.	10. Turn off heat. Take away the cover to avoid the water dropping on the cake.	11. Cool in room temperature. Serve.

Tips:

1. Small red bean mud (paste) is available in some Asian shops. But they are usually very sweet.

2. You can replace small red bean with other fillings.

3. Don't make the dough too hard or too soft. Otherwise it's not easy to make a shape.

4. When steaming, don't steam with other food.

Go to other Chinese Desserts