Today newspaper

A CRUNCHY TWIST
---------------
Give your traditional nian gao recipe a refreshing texture by adding yam
and sweet potato

Amy Van
food@newstoday.com.sg

Talk about Chinese New Year and goodies such as nian gao, bak kwa and love
letters will definitely come to mind.

Nian gao is Chinese New Year cake made from glutinous rice flour and brown
sugar. It is usually round, or moulded into the shape of a fish. When the
word "fish" is said in Mandarin (yu), it has an auspicious ring to it.

It is common to prepare this golden brown cake by dusting slices of it
with some flour before pan-frying them, so that it is slightly crispy on
the outside and chewy inside.

Another way is to coat slices of nian gao with egg before frying them.

My aunt, though, fries nian gao with thinly-sliced sweet potato or yam.
It's almost like a fritter with two textures - the crunchy sweet potato or
yam balances nicely with the sticky cake.

In my recipe, I used both sweet potato and yam to give the nian gao that
extra crunch.

It is recommended that you chill the nian gao until it hardens which makes
it easier to slice.

The Fu Man Tang New Year Cake is available in a variety of sizes at NTUC
FairPrice supermarkets.

Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients

2 small Fu Man Tang New Year Cake

1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced thin

1 yam, peeled and sliced thin

1 egg white

Oil for pan-frying

Batter

1 cup flour

� cup water

1 whole egg, lightly beaten

Method

1. To prepare batter, mix flour with water and egg until smooth.

2. Slice nian gao according to the size of the sweet potato and yam.
Sandwich the pieces together.

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Dip nian gao into the egg
white, and then coat with batter. Fry until both sides are golden brown.
Drain on paper towels and serve.