Steamed Taro Cake (Wu Tao Gou)

My favourite snack especially pan-fried! Sinful? Arghhh who cares~~~~ The steamed ones are sinful too.... At least my version does not contain lap-cheong (chinese sausage). In my opinion, lap-cheong makes it slightly sweet, and I prefer the savoury kind of wu tao gou so just shallots and dried shrimp is good enough for me.

I remember my Mom used to make them regularly at home when I was a kid. I remember her version being a little dry (too much taro). And I used to enjoy those that I bought from the shops, failing to realise that those were full or starch instead of taro. The ratio of starch to yam is probably like 5:1? Now I understand why those store-bought wu tau gou are so soft!

I also remember Mom gets frustrated whenever she finds the top of the cake very soft and the bottom very stiff. So, the trick here is to cook the flour mixture with the yam before steaming it. Imagine mixing the flour in cool water and adding the yam into it. the mixture is kinda cool. It takes time for the whole mixture to get cooked in the steaming pot. While steaming i the pot, the flour sinks to the bottom of the pan and hence the stiff bottom.

Ingredients

- Approximately 600gm of taro, peeled and cut into small cubes

- A handful of dried shrimps, soaked and chopped

- 5 shallots, chopped and fried till golden brown

- 250gm rice flour

- 2 tbsp tapioca starch

- 2 tbsp wheat starch

-1 chicken stock cube, dissolved in 800 mls water

- Salt, to taste

- Ground pepper, to taste


Method

1. Deep fry taro till slightly brown and fragrant, set aside.

2. Deep fry shallots till golden brown, set aside.

3. Mix water and chicken stock cube and stir till fully dissolved. Add salt and pepper.

4. Heat some oil in pan and stir fry dried shrimp till fragrant and add in shallots. Add in taro and stir       till well-combined.

5.Lower heat and add in the flour mixture and continue stirring till it becomes a paste (should take about 5 minutes).

6. Grease a baking pan with oil and place the cooked mixture into the pan.

7. Steam till cooked. Insert an toothpick into the centre of the cake. If the stick comes out clean, the cake is cooked.

TIP: Make sure you occasionally stir the flour mixture(before adding into yam) to prevent the flour from sinking to the bottom.

Pan-fried with LaoGanMa chilli... Yums..