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).

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Chinese New Year Cake (Sticky Rice Cake 年糕)

Chinese New Year is a time of enjoying many delicious foods and snacks. One of popular desserts eaten during this festive season is Chinese New Year’s cake (nian gao 年糕), that made with sticky, glutinous rice flour (mochi flour) with brown sugar because it’s symbolic of growing taller, achieving higher every year, that signifies a prosperous year awaiting ahead.

2025 is the year of snake (Chinese zodiac)

It’s often served warm as it is. However, in Hong Kong, people like to have the steamed sticky rice cake, sliced and then pan-fried with egg. If it's pan-fried without egg, the texture would be slightly crispy outside and still pasty inside. When some relatives or friends come to visit them (bai nian拜年), they’d serve the sticky cake warm, with some other snacks, like turnip cake and taro cake.

Update: If you have an electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot, you might like to take a look at this radish recipe with video tutorial.

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Steamed Tofu with Minced Prawn (蝦膠蒸釀豆腐)

Tofu is one of my favourite ingredients in Chinese cooking. Although it’s cheap and common, it could be served in an elegant way to impress my family and friends, just by adding a bit of prawn/shrimp meat paste.

Every time I have this dish, I love taking a close look at the springy prawn ball sitting on top of the silky smooth tofu before taking a big bite. It’s an incredible feeling that you can feel all the flavours bursting out in your mouth at the moment you bite them.

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Turnip Cake/Radish Cake (Chinese New Year)

Turnip Cake (aka radish cake) is a must-eat snack during Chinese New Year traditionally. You also easily find it at many dim sum restaurants through out the year though.

Normally we don’t have any holidays during Chinese New Year season in Australia. As for this year, Chinese New Year coincidentally falls on the same day as Australia Day – 26 January. Fantastic ! We’ll get one day off for celebration. In the meantime, I start to make some Chinese cakes for this special season. The first one is my most favorite, Turnip Cake (aka radish cake).

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Steamed Eggs With Milk Dessert Recipe

This steamed eggs with milk dessert is very popular in Hong Kong, and also my childhood dessert that I grew up with. The egg custard texture is so smooth as silk. Armed with this recipe, you can make your own at home at a very high success rate.

I remember my dad always took me to a popular Chinese dessert restaurant when I was young. Not only did the dessert taste good, but also the companion with my dad made my heart feel so sweet.

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Poached Chicken in Spicy Sauce (貴妃雞)

Traditional poached chicken is very popular in Hong Kong. If the chicken is just cooked through with silky smooth skin and the meat is succulent, it’s a high-praised dish that’s well-accepted by everyone.

To make silky succulent poached chicken, it’s not that difficult as we thought. All you need to do is to submerse and soak the chicken in a bowl of iced water to stop the inner cooking once the chicken is done. The skin will be kept very smooth and the meat won’t be over-cooked.

For making this special poached chicken, you can simply skip the soak-in-iced-water step, still can achieve the same effect. The simple trick is to prepare a bowl of cold spicy brine to get the cooked chicken soaked in it. It’s very straightforward and simple.

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Steamed Chicken with Sand Ginger Powder (沙薑雞)

This steamed chicken with Sand Ginger powder dish is very simple and delicious.  It's a traditional Chinese dish, best served with steamed rice and ginger and scallion dipping.

Simple is the best. You can’t imagine how nice the taste of this steamed chicken was. The chicken meat is so tender and silky smooth, steamed to just cooked. If you like the traditional, popular Chinese steamed chicken (白切雞), you have to try this dish as well, if you haven’t.

Try to use organic or free-range chicken if you can to ensure the best result. Having said that, I used corn-fed chicken this time. So, that’s why my steamed chicken was in bright, lovely yellow colour. The end result remained wonderfully good.

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Steamed Garlic Prawns with Vermicelli Noodles (Video)

Have you tried this traditional Chinese dish, steamed garlic prawns with vermicelli noodles? You’ll easily found at many Chinese restaurants. It’s very easy and quick to make at home though.

I was so happy to spot some beautiful tiger prawns at nearby supermarket. Immediately this dish came up in my mind. I have been craving for steamed prawns for a while. Last time I tried my mother-in-law’s recipe to steam prawns with fermented beancurd. Yes, this dish is so different.

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Steamed Soft Boiled Eggs

Soft-boiled eggs with yolks a bit runny are very charming for many foodies like me. I know, I know, some people like hard-boiled eggs instead.
Ever tried steaming eggs? Here's a trick that helps you can make your most favourite soft boiled eggs every time.

Sometimes I like to have a soft-boiled eggs for breakfast or go with a bowl of hot noodle soup. The eggs take the whole bowl of noodle soup up a level, appealing to eyes and taste buds.

I used to cook eggs in boiling water. This method is good but quite tricky. The egg shells will easily crack in the boiling water. If using this steaming method, you’ll have peace in mind. The eggs won’t easily bump together and get cracked. It's very easy to peel the egg shells as well.

Yet, I tested with chilled eggs. Chilled eggs straight from fridge will crack easily.

So bear in mind, use eggs at room temperature. The next thing is that accurate cooking time determines your success in getting your favourite soft-boiled eggs. That’s it. You’re good to go. So those people who like hard-boiled eggs can use this simple steaming method too.

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Steamed Prawns with Garlic and Fermented Beancurd

Way back many years ago, after tasting my mother-in-law’s steamed garlic prawns, I instantly fell in love of it, that’s totally different from the populated version.

Without any hesitation, I asked my mother-in-law to teach me. I couldn’t imagine how easy it is to make this dish. Not very long, I took the trick back to my kitchen and replicated my mother-in-law’s dish for my daughter to run a taste test.

Then guess what’s after? After that taste test, whenever my daughter sees me preparing some prawns, she would ask if I’m going to make this dish and wants to taste again.

I’m so glad that her western palate also loves this unique Chinese dish. Best of all, she feels it’s comparatively easy to peel the shells on her own.

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Steamed Chicken with Wood Ears and Dried Lily Buds

The wood ears and dried lily buds become the superstar of this steamed chicken dish because they absorb all the flavours of the sauce.

Steamed chicken has been my most favourite dish cooked by my mother from childhood. Many young kids don’t like eating those foods in dark or black in colour. I and my daughter might be the odd ones.

I love the black fungus, cloud ears and wood ears very much, especially steamed with chicken.

Left: Dried Lily Buds. Right: Dried Wood Ears.

The texture of cloud ears is so delicate and smooth, absorbed all the goodies of chicken after steaming.

My daughter would pick all the cloud ears to eat and always complaints that she couldn’t have enough of them.

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Steamed Eggs with Dried Scallops

The smooth, silky steamed eggs infused with the heavenly tasty smell of dried scallops, goes very well with rice.

Dried scallops (or conpoy) are made from the abductor muscle of scallops, a prized delicacy in Hong Kong Cantonese cooking. For those who are interested in knowing more about this priced seafood, please hop over and read this article about dried scallops on Wikipedia.

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Sago Dumplings with Red Bean Filling (桂花豆沙西米糭)

Dragon boat festival is coming around the corner. I experimented to make some non-traditional sago dumplings. It's a huge success and became big hit in my family. It's tasty and easy to make. These dumplings can be served as a dessert or snack.

We will surely have some traditional savoury Cantonese sticky rice dumplings. As I was itching to make some sweet ones for my family as well. I soaked some sago for a little while, then wrapped in with red bean filling. Voila, the steamed sago dumplings looked so spectacular and went so well with the fragrant Osmanthus syrup.

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Water Chestnut Cake (Chinese New Year Recipe)

Water chestnut cake is a well-known Cantonese dim sum dish, almost served at every yum cha restaurant in Hong Kong. When Chinese New Year comes, Hong Kong people like to make their own different kind of cakes (糕), like radish cake (aka turnip cake), taro cake, sticky rice cake to celebrate the season.

Needless to say, this water chestnut cake is one of Hong Kong people’s favourites. “Cake” (糕) pronounces as “high” in Cantonese, Chinese, that resembles a meaning of “rising”, ” growth”, “achieving higher level”, a symbol of prosperity and rising fortunes.

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Radish Cake (Pressure Cooker + Video)

I was asked if we could use an electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot to make radish cake via email. Definitely we can! It can be done quicker than steaming in a wok.

This year’s Chinese New Year is just around the corner. When I made radish cakes again for preparing CNY, I also shot some video clips showing the whole process step-by-step. I used the same radish cake recipe that I used year after year, only omitted the Chinese bacon (臘肉) this time.

If you like to add shiitake mushrooms, feel free to go ahead. Yet remember to finish your cake as soon as you can since mushrooms won’t last too long.

Chinese sausage and dried radish are salted, thus no need to season your batter with salt. You may dip your pan-fried radish cake with soy sauce if desired. Also, it goes perfectly with sriracha sauce. The taste is so good.

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Spicy Soft Boiled Eggs (Instant Pot + Video)

I’m so into soft boiled eggs. The creamy yolk, a bit running inside the tender egg white is the charming part. It’s best to get organic or free range eggs as they are more flavoursome.

When it comes to making soft boiled eggs, it’s not that difficult as you thought once you get the exact cooking time right. I did several test runs with my Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) to cook eggs. Armed with the pressure cooker, it’s no fuss at all to get that kind of yolk I like. All I need to do is to stay on the spot and get myself ready to retrieve the cooked eggs out from the cooker and soak them in cold water immediately.

The shells can be removed very easily. The spicy sauce that the boiled eggs are marinated with is tasty, just like those ramen eggs you enjoy at Japanese restaurants, but enriched with more fragrance.

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Pumpkin Puree (Instant Pot Recipe)

It’s pumpkin season again. I’ve got a large beautiful pumpkin for just 1 dollar. Pumpkin is so versatile. It can be used to make a savoury dish, dessert, cake or rice dish. You name it, you can make it. Even this simple pumpkin puree can be used as filling or sauce, subtly giving a natural sweetness to your whole dish.

I don’t want to miss any chance to test my new kitchen toy, Instant Pot. I was quite impressed with its steaming function. It really shortened a lot of cooking time, even though the size of the pumpkin chunks were quite large. The flesh was very soft that could be easily scooped out with a spoon. Without a doubt, if not using a pressure cooker, you can steam it in a wok or large pot.

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Steamed Minced Pork with Preserved Mustard Greens

This steamed ground pork dish is a very popular homey dish in Chinese cooking that I grew up with. It’s one of my childhood favourite dishes throughout the year. This dish goes really well with a bowl of steamed rice and any Chinese vegetables.

Preserved mustard greens (called mui coi 梅菜 in Cantonese) don’t look appetizing before cooking. But it’s really tasty and perfectly pairing with meat. This dish can be prepared well ahead and chilled in your fridge. When you're ready, simply steam it in a wok.

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Steamed Prawns with Garlic and XO Sauce

It’s been a while not having steamed prawns. This is a simple and homey dish I tried in Hong Kong. I miss it so much. This dish is so simple, quick to make and very delicious. The key is to get fresh prawns. Yes, not those have been frozen for quite a long time. You’ll be amazed how tasty the prawns are after steaming. When I made this dish, I placed the prawns on a bed of vermicelli. Thus I didn’t even waste a drop of the tasty sauce released from the prawns after steaming. All goodies were absorbed by the vermicelli.

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Steamed Tapioca Red Bean Cakes

Look at these mini tapioca cakes with red bean paste inside. Aren’t they lovely? They indeed look gorgeous when presented on a serving table in a small or big party. Not only do they look attractive, but also they taste wonderful. One bite one cake, it’s pretty easy to make!

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