Steamed Pumpkin Cake

**Non-Halal**




My mom made the utmost delish Steamed Yam Cake that is filled to the brim with yam, Chinese sausages and dried prawns. I've asked her a few times how to make it and amount of ingredients was base on the size of the "antique" tall round tin that she have. Kinda difficult for me to adjust it so I just let it be. I know I can get tonnes of recipes online but somehow it just didn't move me. Other than Steamed Yam Cake, there are versions using different ingredients like radish, black eyed peas or even pumpkin.

My boss gave me a huge chunk of pumpkin after a photo shoot. I love pumpkin but not everybody in the household really likes it :( So to mellow out eating pumpkin in chunks or slices, I remember there's this Steamed Pumpkin Cake recipe in Agnes Chang's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum book. I guess having grated pumpkin in a steamed cake should do the job.

I've adapted the recipe just a little, omitting chicken stock granules. In fact I've used far more grated pumpkin than stated in the recipe hence my cake is packed with pumpkin. Thank goodness everybody enjoyed the steamed cake even BoiBoi did not make any fuss and asked for more. This recipe is definitely a keeper as the proportion of batter versus ingredients melded up nicely and feel free to add more pumpkins.

Steamed Pumpkin Cake
(Adapted from Agnes Chang - Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum)


4 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 shallots, chopped
60 g dried prawns, soaked, rinsed and roughly chopped
1 pair Chinese sausages, diced
200 g minced pork meat
800 g pumpkin, seeded with skin removed will yield about 600 g, coarsely grated
Salt and ground white pepper to taste

Batter (mix them together):
300 g rice flour
60 g tapioca flour
1 litre water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

Garnishing:
Spring onion, chopped
Fried shallots

In a fairly large pan or wok, heat oil and fry up chopped garlic and shallots till soft and fragrant. Add dried prawns and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Next add in sausages and minced meat. Stir fry until meat is cooked and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Give the batter a stir before pouring into the stir fried mixture together with the grated pumpkin. Add in salt and pepper. Keep stirring until batter became thick. Taste and adjust seasonings. Turn off the heat.

Pour mixture into a 22 cm square or even round tray. Even the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Steam on high heat for about 45 minutes. The surface should be quite firm. Remove and leave to cool completely.

Garnish the cake by scattering chopped spring onion and fried shallots on the surface before slicing. Serve with garlic chilli sauce.

Note: For a more fragrant cake, pan fry the slices with some oil before serving especially the left over, if there's any!