Nian Gao with Egg Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat nian gao without frying? ›

It can be served as is or pan-fried. To pan-fry (optional): Heat a thin film of vegetable oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add a single layer of nian gao slices but do not let them touch.

A popular way to eat nian gao is to cut slices and pan fry it. This is my favourite way to eat it because it's crispy on the outside and soft and sticky and chewy on the inside. Some people also like to dip the slices in some egg before frying.

Literally, the term “nian gao” also means: annual cake. It is named so, because this sweet cake is only made once a year, when the Chinese New Year comes.

In addition to the traditional brown sugar variety, nian gao comes in various flavors such as coconut, red bean, taro, ground peanuts, or ground pitted jujubes. While they are typically made in a round shape, they can also be molded into shapes like koi fish or gold bars.

Enjoy this baked niangao at room temperature, where it will keep best up to three days covered tightly. It starts getting a little drier, though by no means less delicious, after day four or five on the counter.

It can be served as a side dish as part of a larger meal or simply as a vegetarian family meal on its own. It's healthy, delicious and ready in a flash. This easy and healthy Egg Fried Rice recipe is one of my most favourite 15-minute throw-together dinners, and I'm going to let you into a secret….

It isn't actually orange coloured: this is just the outer packaging to make it look more fishy. The best way to eat nian gao is definitely to heat it in some way. If you don't, it'll often have a tough, unpleasant texture straight from the pack (and every year I forget and try it cold first).

Nian gao can last for 1-2 months in the fridge when stored in an airtight container. When you're ready to eat simply cut off a few slices, pan fry, and enjoy! Once panfried I'd recommend eating it as soon as possible, as it tastes best when the outside is crispy and the centre is still soft and chewy.

Nutritional Fact: This Chinese sticky cake is made with glutinous rice flour, sugar and oil. One 20g steamed slice has 46 calories, while two slices of fried nian gao have 380 calories. It's pretty loaded with sugar too, one piece of nian gao has 17 grams of sugar.

Nian gao, or 'year cake', is a sticky rice cake which represents prosperity; the words 'nian gao' sounds like 'getting higher year on year', and this symbolises raising oneself taller in each coming year.

Is nian gao like mochi? ›

They are different. Nian Gao is not Mochi and vice versa. Mochi sticky rice cake is usually made from sweet rice (also called Mochi rice) cooked and pounded until it becomes a paste that is very sticky and smooth, then formed into cakes or blocks for making into a wide variety of cakes, plain, sweet or savoury.

While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during the Chinese New Year. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao during this time of the year because nian gao (年糕) is a hom*onym for "higher year" or "grow every year" (年高), which means "a more prosperous year".

Fried Nian Gao Sweet Potato Yam Sandwich

This is by far thE BEST way to eat nian gao. A thick slice of nian gao is layered in between sweet potato and yam, coated in a rice flour batter, …

He also told them the three secret “weapons” to drive Nian away – “items that are red in colour”, “bright lights” and “firecrackers”.

It translates to “year cake” or Chinese New Year's cake. It also translates to "higher year," which is believed to promise a better year ahead. Its sticky consistency symbolises a healthy bond within the family and other relationships. For some, it also means luck will stick to you all year.

Aside from eating it as it is, one of the other ways to eat nian gao is to pan-fry it. In Singapore and Malaysia, we also sandwich a slice of nian gao between a slice of yam and a slice of sweet potato.