Water Chestnut Cake 马蹄糕

A childhood favourite of mine, the pan fried water chestnut cake is a dim sum classic. The caramelized surface is crispy while the inside is slightly sticky and chewy. Bits of juicy water chestnut add a nice crunch and refreshing sweetness. It is quite amazing when one realises that the flour used for making the cake is water chestnut too. The same raw material and yet such difference in texture when cooked.

Water Chestnut Cake

Ingredients:
250g water chestnut flour
950ml water
300g water chestnut (250g if using canned water chestnut)
220g sugar
4tbsp vegetable oil

Method:
Grease a 9½ inch loaf pan or a square cake tin with a little vegetable oil.

Sift the water chestnut flour.  Add half the water to the flour. Stir well to form a paste and set aside for 30 minutes.

Peel and chop water chestnut coarsely.

Add sugar and chopped water chestnut to the rest of the water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Make sure the sugar has dissolved. Turn the flame down to the lowest, add the vegetable oil. Next, slowly pour in half the raw paste while continuously stirring.

Turn off the flame, add the other half of the raw paste to the pot and mix well. The paste is going to be very thick and starchy.

Pour the paste into the loaf pan or cake tin and steam it in a steamer over boiling water for 30 minutes.

Remove from steamer and leave to cool.

Unmold the cake and slice it in rectangles 1 to 1½cm thick. There are several ways to eat the cake. Chill the cake and eat it cold or pan fry the cake in a little oil. Some even coat the cake with batter and deep fry.

Comments

[clare eats]

ooh I have never had this before, it looks really interesting. I will have to look for it next tim we have yum cha

[gwenda]

mmm it's one of my dimsum faves too! thanks for sharing the recipe, now all i have to do is find water chestnut flour (arhh hope the asian stores here stock them)

[Big Bok]

My favourite..ST.. :)
Thanks for sharing the recipe.. :)

[Cindy Fredericka]

Gee! I didn't know it was made with Water Chestnut flour. Interesting. Gosh your homemade water chestnut cake looks Yums! I love the Water Chestnut dessert.(The liquid version with the egg drops) It's very refreshing on a humid day when serve chilled compliment with the crunchiness of de water chestnut.Mmm.....

[Julia]

Ooh, yums, I love water chestnut cake too! Thanks for sharing the recipe. :)

[Tian]

i've seen it at the dim sum frying cart but usually i go for the radish cake. i shall be adventurous the next time i go for dim sum. it looks almost jelly like?

[Reid]

Hi AG,

I've never eaten this before at dim sum restaurants because I actually thought it was turnip. I'm going to try it now, or maybe I'll just try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!

[Reid]

Sorry, ST. I was back to my old tricks of reading more than one blog at a time. =(

[J]

wow! homemade water chestnut cake...amazing, as always...cheers,j

[eatzycath]

i've never tried this before, looks interesting, where does one find water chestnut flour in Singapore?? Phoon Huat??

[ST]

Hi clare, try it, it is like a sticky jelly.

Hi gwenda, I am very sure I have seen it in asian stores in Sydney.

Hi Big Bok, try it, it is real easy.

Thanks Cindy, I love water chestnut dessert soup too.

You are welcome, Julia :)

Hi Tian, you are right, I eat it cold like a jelly too.

Hi Reid, we are all guilty of multi blog reading. Hee!

Hi J, thanks, *blush* you are too generous.

Hi eatzycath, I get the flour from Phoon Huat. I am told some NTUC stocks it too.

[melissa]

Do you know how to make steamed
tapioca. Those that look translucent and yellowish when cook. What need to be added to get that finish.

[pinkcocoa]

Hiya ST
I like chestnut cake too but unfortunately I havent yet met anyone here who loves it during yumcha! >.< I shall try and make this one day.....

Gwenda, yes you can get chestnut flour at the asian groceries here. I bought a pack in Jan.

[dimsumdolly]

i like water chestnut cake too, but i prefer it just chilled. But yours looks good!

[Jennifer]

Greetings from Perth. I have just made the cake according to your recipe. Very good. Thanks.

[Susan]

I made the cake according to your recipe yesterday. I find mine more opaque than yours. Any idea why??

[Florence]

Yummy! i m definitly going to try this recipe. But first, I would need to know how much carbohydrate there is in Water Chestnut Flour (say in 100gr),
Would you be able to help please?

[ST]

Hi Florence

The water chestnut flour I use has no nutrition fact label so I did a little research on the internet because I was curious too. Most of the information I came across says water chestnut in the dried form contains about 90% carbohydrates. Not something you will eat if on a strict low carb diet :P

[WL]

The reason it looks opaque is because you used white granulated sugar. Try using yellow rock sugar instead. I decreased the water to 900 ml for firmer texture. It's a great and simple recipe, tastes good!

[evegourmet]

CA oil be omitted?

[Stephanie]

can you suggest a substitute for water chestnut flour? i cant seem to find it in my city...

[ST]

You can try using cornstarch but I really do not know how it much it will differ from water chestnut flour texture wise.

[rose]

good

[catering]

Looks so delicious,wish i saw this earlier i like your blog. :)

winnie

[Brian]

omg omg, a 马蹄糕 recipe, i gotta try to make them , thank you very much

[Kay@Chopstix2steaknives]

I love ma tai gou and can't seem to find it easily. thanks for your recipe....i now have no excuse not to make and eat it.