香蕉软糕 Steamed banana soft cake

When we were young, there aren't so many fanciful snacks like now.  I remembered my family used to buy 香蕉软糕 for us to snack on.  You see, during my childhood, I lived a stone throw away from a reputable biscuit shop.  It was very convenient for us to cross the road and pick a few items from there.  I believe this shop still exist and is located near China Square.

I seriously don't know why it is named so, as it doesn't use any banana at all but I reckoned that in the olden days, they used banana oil to make this and hence its name.

Some version also included red bean paste to it but this is the version that I ate when I was young.

These days, the texture is no longer as nice as those that I ate when I was young and it has a strong artificial flavoring as well.

So when I saw My Little Space's QQ 软糕, I decided to give it a go.  Thanks for sharing Kristy!

Verdict: I don't recall the one that I ate was very Q.  Nevertheless, I still like this QQ texture.  It doesn't sticks to your teeth.  The first bite, I find it rather bland but the sweetness tends to build up after the second helping.  Also the banana flavour was not strong and will adjust this if I attempt this again.

Do try to get a good quality banana flavoring as it makes a lot of difference to the taste.

What you need:

150g glutinous rice flour
25g wheat starch
25g tapioca starch
110g sugar (will increase this to 120g)
200ml   water (mix with ½ tsp banana essence) (will increase this to 1 tsp)

* 1 tsp rose flavoured red food colouring (mix with 1 tbsp water) (I used rose water with red colouring)
* 30g rice flour (toast for 10 minutes before using) for coating.

Method :

Combine all dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix well.

Stir in water to form a thick batter then strain the batter to a 9" greased tray.

Steam for 15 minutes over medium heat.

Once removed from steamer, immediately brush on the red coloring.  Let it sit for 10 mins before rolling.

Use a thin spatula, release all the four sides first.  Next slowly pick the edge and roll it into a cylinder.

Remove from pan.

Dust the cutting area with toasted rice flour, placed the cake onto it and give it a roll on the flour to coat evenly.

Cut to the thickness according to your liking.  I used a two finger spacing.

Note: Do not store this in the fridge.  It will stay good at room temperature for 1 - 2 days.



Have fun.