Water Chestnut Pudding

For the Lunar New Year, I got busy with making some traditional favorites as gifts to family and friends. Amongst this is the very famous Hong Kong Cantonese dessert called the water chestnut pudding. It’s a great “pantry staple” (it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week). As part of my experimentation, I varied the recipe by substituting some of the rock sugar with some Chinese brown sugar which comes in blocks 冰片糖. It added a very pleasant depth to the flavor and so I would recommend it. Here is the recipe for this adaptation of the original recipe:

Water Chestnut Pudding with brown sugar

Ingredients
500 g water chestnut powder
500 g rock sugar冰糖
250 g Chinese brown sugar冰片糖
8 water chestnuts
3 litres water

Method

1. Peel water chestnuts and chop into little bits.
2. Boil 1.5 litres of water, rock sugar and brown sugar in a large stock pot. Add in the chopped water chestnuts.
3. Place the water chestnut powder in a large mixing bowl. Add 1.5 litres of water and mix thoroughly. Make sure that the batter is absolutely smooth with no lumps of water chestnut powder.
4. When the sugar is dissolved, add in one cup of the water chestnut batter. Stir immediately. The sugar solution should thicken slightly and the mixture is clear. Bring to boil again.
5. Turn heat off and stir in the rest of the water chestnut batter. The mixture is now opaque. Keep stirring the bottom of the pot to ensure that the mixture does not stick.
6. Divide the mixture into 3 deep 8 inch dishes.
7. Place a trivet in a wok and fill with water to slightly above the top of the trivet. Use high heat. When the water is boiling, place a tray of the batter on the trivet and steam with the lid on the wok for about 20 minutes. When cooked, the pudding will be honey coloured and clear. When necessary, top up the water in the wok with hot water.
8. Leave the cooked pudding in the dishes to cool.

Whilst still warm, cut into slices and serve.Leftover pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, fry slices with a little oil.

This is what water chestnut pudding batter looks like before being steamed.

This is water chestnut pudding being steamed. Notice that the batter is translucent around the edges and is turning a light brown honey color.

Water Chestnut Pudding 馬蹄糕

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my American friends. Have a safe and happy holiday!

I am certainly looking forward to Christmas. I have even started shopping early and so far, I've already got my turkey and foie gras. I've even bought myself a chocolate fondue for a touch of elegance. Besides, nothing wrong with DIY dessert!

However, let's not also forget that it is "only" 2 months to Chinese New Year. So for those of you who are aspiring cooks, let me put out some recipes early for you to practise. This way, you can decide whether you want to order or make them for coming Chinese New Year.

Lets start with the iconic Cantonese/Hong Kong staple, water chestnut pudding. Making water chestnut pudding is very easy. You can either make it plain or with chopped up fresh water chestnut for added crunch. Here's the recipe. (Please note that I have another version of this recipe here.)

Ingredients

500 g water chestnut powder
750 g rock sugar
8 water chestnuts
3 litres water

Method

1. Peel water chestnuts and chop into little bits.
2. Boil 1.5 litres of water and the rock sugar in a large stock pot. Add in the chopped water chestnuts.
3. Place the water chestnut powder in a large mixing bowl. Add 1.5 litres of water and mix thoroughly. Make sure that the batter is absolutely smooth with no lumps of water chestnut powder.
4. When the rock sugar is dissolved, add in one cup of the water chestnut batter. Stir immediately. The sugar solution should thicken slightly and the mixture is clear. Bring to boil again.
5. Turn heat off and stir in the rest of the water chestnut batter. The mixture is now opaque. Keep stirring the bottom of the pot to ensure that the mixture does not stick.
6. Divide the mixture into 3 deep 8 inch dishes.
7. Place a steaming rack in a wok and fill with water to slightly above the top of the rack. Use high heat. When the water is boiling, place a tray of the batter on the rack and steam with the lid on the wok for about 20 minutes. When cooked, the pudding will be honey coloured and clear. When necessary, top up the water in the wok with hot water.

Leave the cooked pudding in the dishes to cool. Whilst still warm, cut into slices and serve.

Leftover pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, fry slices with a little oil.