Baked Sweet Glutinous Rice Cake Recipe (Lian Gao) (2024)

FAQs

Are nian gao and mochi the same? ›

They are different. Nian Gao is not Mochi and vice versa. Mochi sticky rice cake is usually made from sweet rice (also called Mochi rice) cooked and pounded until it becomes a paste that is very sticky and smooth, then formed into cakes or blocks for making into a wide variety of cakes, plain, sweet or savoury.

Nian gao can last for 1-2 months in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. When you're ready to eat simply cut off a few slices, pan fry, and enjoy! Once panfried I'd recommend eating it as soon as possible, as it tastes best when the outside is crispy and the centre is still soft and chewy.

These rice cakes are made with rich coconut milk and brown sugar. It has a subtle sweetness with notes of molasses. Unlike storebought nian gaos, homemade ones maintain its ultra-soft and chewy texture for up to 24 hours after steaming. The freshness means that you can slice it up and eat it as is.

The most common type of nian gao is made of glutinous rice flour, which gives it a sticky consistency, similar to popular Japanese delicacy mochi.

It can be served as is or pan-fried. To pan-fry (optional): Heat a thin film of vegetable oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add a single layer of nian gao slices but do not let them touch.

Nian gao, or 'year cake', is a sticky rice cake which represents prosperity; the words 'nian gao' sounds like 'getting higher year on year', and this symbolises raising oneself taller in each coming year.

Nutritional Fact: This Chinese sticky cake is made with glutinous rice flour, sugar and oil. One 20g steamed slice has 46 calories, while two slices of fried nian gao have 380 calories. It's pretty loaded with sugar too, one piece of nian gao has 17 grams of sugar.

The soft gooey texture of heated up nian gao goes with the taro and sweet potato. Nian gao is also used for the altar for prayers during Chinese Festival time. It is so the nian gao can be left outside and if it goes moldy or bad don't eat it.

Homemade rice cakes tend to get stale quickly. Keep your rice cakes in the fridge and try to eat them as soon as possible for the best flavor and texture. If your rice cake seems a little stale, put it in the microwave for 30 seconds before you eat it.

While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time of the year because nian gao (年糕) is a hom*onym for "higher year" or "grow every year" (年高), which means "a more prosperous year".

How do you heat up nian gao? ›

And when ready to serve them just reheat with steamer or microwave if you want to eat them plain or you can follow my Pan-Fried or Steamed Coconut Nian Gao recipe, a great way to use leftover Nian Gao from Chinese New Year.

Tikoy is a Chinese-Filipino sweet sticky rice cake (nian gao) that is made of glutinous rice flour and sugar. It is eaten during festivities including Lunar New Year.

The round shapes and these sweet rice ball desserts symbolizes togetherness and family reunion, since it is usually eaten together with loved ones.

Rice cakes (nian gao) – southern China

The word nian gao sounds like “higher year,” representing a better year to come. “People eat rice cake because in Chinese, the cake carries the meaning of height, so if you eat cake, it means that in the new year, you will have good luck,” Xiu said.

Muah Chee (麻糍) a Chinese-style glutinous rice dessert 🥜 a bit like a freeform mochi that's extra chewy and soft and rolled in crunchy roasted peanuts or sesame and sugar Full recipe on my Whisk profile #mochi #muahchee #fyp #foodtok.

Chapssaltteok 찹쌀떡

Chapssaltteok used to be called “mochi” among Koreans, but these days everybody calls this particular kind of rice cake “chapssaltteok.” The word mochi is a Japanese word that simply means “rice cake.”

But what is daif*cku exactly and what does daif*cku mean? It's actually just a mochi that's been stuffed or filled, most commonly with red bean paste but often with other flavors too. In fact, just like there are many types of mochi, daif*cku has many variants - some of which we'll touch on in this article.

The key differences between snow skin mooncake and daif*cku mochi is that mochi typically is made from only sweet rice flour, whereas snow skin mooncakes use a mixture of different rice flours. Traditional daif*cku actually use a specially fine ground rice flour called shiratamako. It makes the mochi suuuuuper soft.