Chinese New Year Cake (Pressure Cooker + Video)

During CNY, we enjoy this traditional must-eat snack. Whenever any relatives or friends visit us, we'd pan-fry some pieces of this Chinese New Year cake for welcoming them.

It’s still Chinese New Year celebration time until the 15th day of lunar calendar. We enjoy all the delicious snacks, radish cake (pressure cooker recipe), taro cake and Chinese New Year cake (steamed in a wok), especially when getting around with friends and family.

You might find this CNY cake in Chinese dim sum restaurants all year long. This is a popular, traditional cake in Chinese cooking.

When it comes to making this CNY cake, it takes forever to get it cooked through in a wok or steamer. But with an electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot, I can cut short the cooking time a lot. This recipe exactly use up one packet of brown slab sugar (片糖, picture shown here).

I made a batch ahead, then pan-fried it next morning, and brought it along to share with my friends after church. They commended with thumbs up, saying it’s not too sweet with the texture just right to their liking. It’s a kind of remarkable reward when you cooked with your heart and soul for your loved ones, isn’t it?

Watch the video tutorial!

Chinese New Year Cake Pressure Cooker Recipe (Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Steamed, Snack
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins + plus pan-fry time
Yield: One 12 cm (diameter) x 5cm (depth) round container + one 20cm x 14cm x 6.5cm rectangular container

Ingredients:

• 450 ml water + plus 1½ cup for steaming
• 450 gm brown slab sugar
• 150 ml coconut milk
• 55 ml oil + plus more to grease the containers
• 360 gm glutinous rice flour
• 125 gm wheat starch
• 1 egg, whisked

Method:

1. Use a deep pot, cook 450 ml of water with the sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour in the coconut milk and oil. Combine well. Set aside to let it cool down.
2. Combine and sift the glutinous rice flour and wheat starch. Sift the flour mixture into the sugar mixture in 3 batches. Stir to combine very well. You’ll get a very smooth batter. Drain through a fine sieve to get rid of any lumps inside.
3. Grease the containers. Pour in the batter.
4. Pour in 1½ cups of water into the Instant Pot. Transfer the round container first, followed by the rectangular one. Cover with foil. Close the lid and turn to “sealing” position. Press “manual” button, cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. After finishing cooking, let the machine run “natural release’ for 10 minutes. After the pressure valve drops, remove the containers and let them cool down completely. Chill in fridge for at least 3 hours until it turns firmer for easily slicing into pieces. When you’re ready to serve, coat each slice with whisked egg. With a non-stick pan, pan-fry both sides until golden brown over medium-low heat. Serve hot.

Notes：

• It’s best to use glass containers. You may use bakery tray or foil tin instead. I won’t recommend to use plastic take-away boxes though as they are not suitable for high-heat cooking.
• If you're interested in getting an Instant Pot, here's the info for you. I got it from Amazon (UK) as the model for sale in UK, with 220 volts, suitable for using in Australia.
• If you’re living in US or any countries with 110~120 volts electrical system, the model listed on Amazon (US) is the one to go for.