A Perfectly Successful Steamed Rice Cake
Even if you’ve never made rice cakes before, just follow my recipe step by step and you’re guaranteed an effortless success on your first try. I prefer to let the steamed rice cakes cool down before eating them. The chewy texture from the high-gluten flour is something I absolutely love—it’s soft and moist without being sticky, with a slight sweetness combined with the aroma of fermentation that makes you want to grab another one. Knowing you might skip the tips section, I’ve included every key point directly in the steps. If something is still unclear, feel free to ask in the comment section _(:зゝ∠)_
Ingredients
Steps
Wash half a pound of rice thoroughly and soak it overnight until it turns white and becomes soft enough to crumble with your fingers.
Drain the soaked rice and place it in a high-speed blender with water. Blend it at medium-high speed into rice paste. I ran two 2-minute blending programs. Note: Use the stirring setting, not a heating or soy milk setting.
Add 5g of yeast powder into the rice paste and mix well. I made this during winter, so reduce the yeast by half in summer.
Next, add flour to the rice paste and mix evenly. Both medium-gluten and high-gluten flours work, but my family prefers the chewy texture from high-gluten flour. Different flours absorb water differently, so adjust as needed. The batter is ready when lifting the whisk leaves traces on the surface that don't disappear quickly. I recommend measuring 50g of flour and adding it gradually to the rice paste, stirring and checking the consistency as you go. Today, I used only 30g of flour to reach the desired consistency shown in the picture. Adding more flour results in smaller 'flowers,' but if it's too runny, it won't form properly. Striking the right balance is essential for beautiful flower-like cracks 🌸.
Let the batter ferment until bubbles appear on the surface. Stirring it with chopsticks should reveal many large bubbles inside. Add sugar, mix evenly, and let it ferment for another 10 minutes. Fermentation time varies with temperature, so monitor closely. When there are many large bubbles inside, it's time to add sugar. This amount of sugar isn’t very sweet, so I don't recommend reducing it further. Since the sugar is added later, you don't need high-sugar-tolerant yeast.
Add plenty of water to your steamer and bring it to a boil over high heat. Before placing the batter in, whisk it into a silky smooth state with no bubbles—otherwise, it’ll be hard to achieve the flower-like cracks later.
Pour the batter into cupcake liners and steam for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 3 minutes before removing the steamer. Start steaming only after the water is boiling and there’s plenty of steam, which is essential for achieving beautiful flower-like cracks. For optimal results, steam one batch at a time, ensuring good heat circulation between the liners. Avoid placing them too close together. Also, don’t open the lid mid-steam, as sudden cooling can interrupt the ‘flowering.’ This recipe makes just enough batter to fill four cupcake liners, perfect for one steaming session.