Water chestnut cake

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Water chestnut cake
Waterchestnutcake.jpg
Course dim sum
Place of origin Guangdong, China
Region or state Cantonese-speaking areas
Main ingredients shredded Chinese water chestnut
Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg Cookbook: Water chestnut cake   Commons-logo.svg Media: Water chestnut cake
Water chestnut cake
Traditional Chinese 馬蹄糕
Simplified Chinese 马蹄糕
Cantonese Yale máhtài gōu
Hanyu Pinyin mǎtí gāo
Literal meaning horsehoof cake

Water chestnut cake (traditional Chinese :馬蹄糕; simplified Chinese :马蹄糕; Cantonese Yale :máhtài gōu) is a sweet Cantonese dim sum dish made of shredded Chinese water chestnut. [1] When served during dim sum , the cake is usually cut into square-shaped slices and pan-fried before serving. The cake is soft, but holds its shape after the frying. Sometimes the cake is made with chopped water chestnuts embedded into each square piece with the vegetable being visible. One of the main trademark characteristics of the dish is its translucent appearance.

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, and in the Kangxi Dictionary. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century.

Simplified Chinese characters standardized Chinese characters developed in mainland China

Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one of the two standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the People's Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s to encourage literacy. They are officially used in the People's Republic of China and Singapore.

The Yale romanization of Cantonese was developed by Gerard P. Kok for his and Parker Po-fei Huang's textbook Speak Cantonese initially circulated in looseleaf form in 1952 but later published in 1958. Unlike the Yale romanization of Mandarin, it is still widely used in books and dictionaries, especially for foreign learners of Cantonese. It shares some similarities with Hanyu Pinyin in that unvoiced, unaspirated consonants are represented by letters traditionally used in English and most other European languages to represent voiced sounds. For example, is represented as b in Yale, whereas its aspirated counterpart, is represented as p. Students attending The Chinese University of Hong Kong's New-Asia Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center are taught using Yale romanization.

It is one of the standard dishes found in the dim sum cuisine of Hong Kong, and is also available in select overseas Chinatown restaurants.

Dim sum style of Chinese cuisine of bite-sized portions served in small steamer baskets or plates

Dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food served in small steamer baskets or on a small plate. Dim sum dishes are usually served with tea and together form a full tea brunch. Due to the Cantonese tradition of enjoying tea with this cuisine, yum cha (飲茶), which means "drink tea" in Cantonese, is also synonymous with dim sum. Dim sum traditionally are served as fully cooked, ready-to-serve dishes. In some Cantonese teahouses, carts with dim sum are served around the restaurant.

Hong Kong East Asian city

Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and commonly abbreviated as HK, is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in southern China. With over 7.4 million people of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is the world's fourth most densely populated region.

Chinatown ethnic enclave of expatriate Chinese people

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Zealandia.

See also

Chestnut cake

Chestnut cake is a cake prepared using chestnuts. Chestnut flour prepared from cooked, ground chestnuts are used in its preparation, along with additional typical cake ingredients. It is sometimes prepared as a chocolate cake. Chestnuts are sometimes used in a frosting or glaze atop the cake, and it may be garnished with cooked or candied chestnuts. It can be prepared as a gluten-free dish.

Brazil nut cake

Brazil nut cake is a cake prepared using Brazil nuts as a primary ingredient. Coffeecake, shortcake, pound cake, fruitcake, brownies and torte cake may be prepared using Brazil nuts as a main ingredient. Ground or chopped Brazil nuts may be used. Brazil nut cake is a dish in Brazilian cuisine, and it is a common and popular cake in the Amazon region of Bolivia, Brazil and Peru.

Taro cake

Taro cake is a Chinese dish made from the vegetable taro. While it is denser in texture than radish cakes, both these savory cakes made in a similar ways, with rice flour as the main ingredient. When served in dim sum cuisine, it is cut into square-shaped slices and pan-fried before serving. It is found in Hong Kong, China, and overseas Chinatowns restaurants. Other ingredients often include pork and Chinese black mushroom, or even Chinese sausages. It is usually topped with chopped scallions.

Related Research Articles

Cantonese cuisine Branch of Chinese traditional cuisine native to Guangdong

Cantonese cuisine or more accurately, Guangdong cuisine, also known as Yue cuisine (粵菜), refers to the cuisine of China's Guangdong Province, particularly the provincial capital, Guangzhou (Canton). "Cantonese" specifically refers to only Guangzhou or the language known as Cantonese associated with it, but people generally refer to "Cantonese cuisine" to all the cooking styles of the speakers of Yue Chinese languages from within Guangdong. The Teochew cuisine and Hakka cuisine of Guangdong are considered their own styles, as is neighboring Guangxi's cuisine despite also being considered culturally Cantonese. It is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the large number of Cantonese emigrants. Chefs trained in Cantonese cuisine are highly sought after throughout China. Until recently, most Chinese restaurants in the West served largely Cantonese dishes.

Youtiao Churro-like cruller of Chinese origin

Youtiao, also known as Chinese cruller, Chinese fried churros, Chinese oil stick, Chinese doughnut, is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of dough commonly eaten in China and in other East and Southeast Asian cuisines. Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and made so they can be torn lengthwise in two. Youtiao are normally eaten at breakfast as an accompaniment for rice congee, soy milk or regular milk blended with sugar.

Chai tow kway

Chai tow kway is a common dish or dim sum of Teochew cuisine in Chaoshan, China. It is also popular in Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, consisting of stir-fried cubes of radish cake.

Malaysian Chinese cuisine

Malaysian Chinese cuisine is derived from the culinary traditions of Chinese Malaysian immigrants and their descendants, who have adapted or modified their culinary traditions under the influence of Malaysian culture as well as immigration patterns of Chinese to Malaysia. Because the vast majority of Chinese Malaysians are descendants of immigrants from southern China, Malaysian Chinese cuisine is predominantly based on an eclectic repertoire of dishes with roots from Fujian, Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew cuisines.

Nian gao

Nian gao, sometimes translated as year cake or Chinese New Year's cake, is a food prepared from glutinous rice flour and consumed in Chinese cuisine. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time, because nian gao is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián), meaning "sticky", is identical in sound to 年, meaning "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high or tall". As such, eating nian gao has the symbolism of raising oneself taller in each coming year. It is also known as a rice cake. This sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, with the aim that his mouth will be stuck with the sticky cake, so that he can't badmouth the human family in front of the Jade Emperor. It is also traditionally eaten during the Duanwu Festival.

Shrimp toast Chinese dim sum dish

Shrimp toast or prawn toast is a Chinese dim sum dish. It is made from small triangles of bread, brushed with egg and coated with minced shrimp and water chestnuts, then cooked by baking or deep frying. It is a common appetizer in Australian and American Chinese cuisine. A common variant in the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland is sesame prawn toast. This involves sprinkling sesame seeds before the baking or deep frying process.

Rice noodle roll food

A rice noodle roll is a Cantonese dish from southern China and Hong Kong, commonly served either as a snack, small meal or as a variety of dim sum. It is a thin crépe roll made from a wide strip of shahe fen, filled with shrimp, beef, vegetables, or other ingredients. Seasoned soy sauce -- sometimes with siu mei drippings -- is poured over the dish upon serving. When plain and made without filling, the rice noodle is also known as jyu cheung fan.

Shumai type of traditional Chinese dumpling

Shumai is a type of traditional Chinese dumpling, originating from Huhhot. In Cantonese cuisine, it is usually served as a dim sum snack. In addition to accompanying the Chinese diaspora, a variation of Shaomai also appears in Japan and various Southeast Asian countries.

Jian dui

Jian dui is a type of fried Chinese pastry made from glutinous rice flour. The pastry is coated with sesame seeds on the outside and is crisp and chewy. Inside the pastry is a large hollow, caused by the expansion of the dough. The hollow of the pastry is filled with a filling usually consisting of lotus paste, or alternatively sweet black bean paste, or less commonly red bean paste. They are also sometimes referred to as sesame balls.

Turnip cake savory dish in Chinese cuisine popular in Cantonese dim sum

Turnip cake is a Chinese dim sum dish. The less commonly used radish cake is a more accurate name, as Western-style turnips are not used in the dish but rather shredded radish and plain rice flour. It is traditionally called carrot cake in Singapore.

Bánh bò

Bánh bò is a sweet, chewy sponge cake from Vietnam. It is made from rice flour, water, sugar, and yeast, and has a honeycomb-like appearance on the inside due to the presence of numerous small air bubbles. Coconut milk is also usually a part of the batter, imparting a slight flavor and aroma of coconut. The cake is of Southern Chinese origin, although the Chinese version, called bái táng gāo (白糖糕), does not contain coconut milk. Bánh bò are generally eaten as a dessert, although they may also be consumed as an accompaniment to a meal.

Taro dumpling

Taro dumpling is a variety of dim sum served within Chinese cuisine. It is a standard dish in dim sum restaurants in Hong Kong and around the world. Among overseas Chinatowns, it is often sold as a Chinese pastry.

Put chai ko

Put chai ko is a popular snack in Hong Kong. The pudding cake is palm size and is sweet in taste. It is soft, but can hold its molded shape outside a bowl. The cake is made from white or brown sugar, long-grain rice flour with a little wheat starch or cornstarch. Sometimes red beans are also added. The batter is poured into porcelain bowls and steamed until cooked through. Then it is let cooled and served at room temperature. Traditionally, the hawker inserts two bamboo skewers into the cake to turn it out and the eater holds the skewers to consume. But nowadays, most Put Chai Ko are sold in plastic bags.

Steamed meatball

Steamed meatball is a common Cantonese dim sum dish. It is popular in Hong Kong and most overseas Chinatowns. The meatballs are usually made of minced beef, with water chestnut to add texture and with coriander and chenpi used as seasoning. A layer of tofu skin, or sometimes peas, are used to raise the meatballs from the bottom of the dish and prevent them from sitting in the cooking juices. It is generally served with Worcestershire sauce.

Har gow traditional Cantonese dumpling

Har gow is a traditional Cantonese dumpling served in dim sum.

Jiaozi dumpling of Chinese origin

Jiaozi are a kind of Chinese dumpling, commonly eaten in China and other parts of East Asia. They are one of the major foods eaten during the Chinese New Year and year-round in the northern provinces. Though considered part of Chinese cuisine, jiaozi are popular in other parts of Asia and in Western countries.

References

  1. ↑ "Water Chestnut Cake for Chinese New Year and sometimes Valentine's Day". tastehongkong.com. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2007.


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