Steamed Beehive Rice Cake (Pak Tong Koh)

Steamed Beehive Rice Cake (Pak Tong Koh)

One of my favourite cake is this traditional Chinese steamed cake. It is not as sweet as other local cakes. I have tried several times to make sure the recipe is a success.

Ingredients:
125 g rice flour
1 tbsp cornflour
100 g sugar
250 ml water
1 tbsp fresh yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp alkaline water

Method:

1. Add 150 ml water to the rice flour with cornflour and mix well. Leave the thick mixture aside while preparing the syrup.

2. To prepare the syrup, boil sugar with 100 ml water and salt. When boiling, pour the syrup into rice flour mixture. Stir well and leave aside to cool. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of alkaline water to the mixture.

3. Dissolve 1 tbsp fresh yeast in 2 tbsp of lukewarm water. Add a teaspoon of flour to the mixture to make sure the yeast rises properly. Stir well, cover and let the mixture rise until small tiny bubbles appear. It will take about 20 minutes depending on the weather. It will rise faster in warm weather.

4. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Let it rise again. It will take about 1/2 an hour. When the mixture rises it is ready to be steamed. Pour the mixture into a greased tin.

5. Add the mixture into the steamer. Steam for about 20 minutes. The cake is cooked when it is firm when touch.

Note: If instant yeast is used, use only 1 teaspoon of it. Let the yeast to rise first before adding to the flour mixture. This will ensure that your cake will rise and the yeast is fresh. Do not used expired yeast.