Coconut and Azuki (Red Bean) Glutinous Rice Cake 椰汁紅豆糯米糕—For Chinese New Year

According to the Luna Calendar, the Chinese New Year (CNY) falls on January 23rd this year.  I can't believe it's only a week away from now.  Chinese New Year is the biggest Holiday in many Asia countries, pretty much like Christmas or Thanksgiving in the United States.  In Hong Kong, most retail stores, businesses and schools are close for a week during the CNY to celebrate.  Traditionally, the days off also allow everyone to celebrate and visit family members and distanced relatives.  Boy, don't I miss that tradition!  To read more about other Chinese New Year traditions and a scrumptious Butter Cookie recipe, you can also refer to this post here from last year.  As we say farewell to the Year of Rabbit, we'll be welcoming the Year of Dragon.  The Dragon certainly has the characteristic and image of strong, energetic and mysterious.

There are many specialty food, savory dishes or sweet treats, made just for the Chinese New Year.  These special treats often have special meanings, for good health, wealth and/or good luck for the new year.  Rice cakes are one of the "must have" treats during the CNY because the pronunciation of Rice Cake in Chinese (年糕) sounds exactly like "growth (taller) every year".  These rice cakes symbolize growth and improvement for the year to come.  There are many different version of Rice Cake.  The more traditional ones are simply glutinous rice flour mixed with brown/palm sugar and/or coconut milk or water, and then steam away.




This particular recipe of Coconut and Azuki (Red Bean) Glutinous Rice Cake 椰汁紅豆糯米糕 is my modernized version of the Rice Cake.  Baked with a crunchy and fragrant layer of coconut flakes on top.  The first time I tried this coconut rice cake was from my Aunt.  It was so amazing that I went back for second and third.  I adopted my Aunt's recipe and added Azuki beans.  The red beans not only added a little sweetness and tender texture to this rice cake, but also added some red color that symbolized good luck in Chinese.  The slightly sweetened red bean flavor compliment really well with the coconut.  My Aunt's recipe called for just vegetable oil, but I replaced it with some coconut oil to add more coconut flavor.  It came out wonderfully.  Here are the main ingredients you'll need: Coconut milk, glutinous rice flour, eggs, coconut milk, prepared azuki red beans, evaporated milk, sugar and of course coconut flakes.



When the batter is done mixing, pour onto a prepared baking dish and dollop the red beans on top randomly.



With a spoon, swirl around to make the marble patterns as shown below.  Don't worry about the red bean staying on top now as some of them will sink during the baking process.  Also, I bake the rice cake for a few minutes before sprinkling the coconut flakes on top to prevent the coconut flakes from sinking.  When the coconut flakes stay on top, that’s how you get the golden brown and crispy layer.



See the golden brown top and crunchy edges?  YUM!  I particularly love the sides and corners for the extra crunch, just like brownies.



When the rice cake cooled down a bit, cut them into bars of your preferred size and serve.  I love them when they are still slightly warm from the oven.  The texture is a mix of crunchy from the edges, flaky and crisp from the coconut flakes on top, and tender and chewy from the inside.  The sweetness is perfect and packed with red beans and coconut flavors.  The coconut aroma truly shines through.



These Coconut and Azuki (Red Bean) Glutinous Rice Cakes 椰汁紅豆糯米糕 are perfect for sharing in gatherings, pot lucks, or package them to give to friends and relatives for the CNY.  Just a reminder, the edges of these rice cake will soften the next day.  Simply pop them back to a toaster oven or regular oven for a few minutes if you prefer them to be crispy.  Or simply enjoy their tender and chewy texture as is.




I want to wish all of you all a bountiful, healthy, and happy Year of Dragon (Gong Hay Fat Choi). May you reach higher than ever, exceed your next goal and target in life, just as these Rice Cake symbolized. 祝大家恭喜發財, 龍馬精 神  , 身體健康, 步步高升!





Coconut and Azuki (Red Bean) Glutinous Rice Cake 椰汁紅豆糯米糕:
(Printable Recipe)
Makes 24 bars

1 bag (16 ounces) glutinous rice flour
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs

11/2 cups castor sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4  cup vegetable oil
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
6 oz evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup prepared red bean (Yude Azuki)

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Preheat oven to 380 degrees F.  

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the glutinous rice flour, baking powder and baking soda, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs and the castor sugar together on medium high speed until pale yellow.  Add coconut oil, vegetable oil, coconut milk, evaporated milk and salt, beat together until well combined.

Turn mixer to low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until well incorporated.  You'll get a very thick batter.  Don’t worry about over mixing the batter as it’s already packed with glutens.  

Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, pour batter into the dish in an even layer.  Dollop the Azuki red beans on top and slightly swirl them with a spoon to form the marble patterns.  Bake for 5 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the coconut flakes on top in an even layer.  Return to oven and continue to bake for another 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.  Loosely cover the top with a foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserts in the center and comes out clean.

Let cool on a wiring rack.  With a sharp serrated knife, cut into bars in desired sizes.



This recipe is linked with:

Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mingle Monday
Tuesday Talent Show
Success U
I'm Lovin' It
Foodie Friday
Full Plate Thursday

Happy New Year (新年快樂)!

Thanks to all of you who have been reading, following and commenting on uTry.it.  It means a lot to me and I always appreciate your love and supports.  In 2012, I will continue to bring you more delicious recipes, creative ideas, fun reviews, giveaways (of course), and maybe a few contests to change things up a little bit.   

As we say goodbye to 2011, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2012!  Thank you for making 2011 a wonderful and memorable year.  Cheers!

Happy Chinese New Year—恭喜發財 (Gong Hay Fat Choi)

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year, and 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.  Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.  It is the tradition that on the Eve of Chinese New Year, supper is a feast with families.  Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year(Gong Hay Fat Choi), and receive money in red paper envelopes like those from the picture below (yeah, I know, these are not red.  They are more modernized designs and the Chinese believe that gold is another lucky color besides red). 



Another tradition on the first day of Chinese New Year is that the families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family, usually their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents and so forth (pretty much like Thanksgiving in the U.S.)  Along with our visits, we always bring some delicious treats.  And butter cookie has been a popular item that people would bring as a treat.  However, I think the popularity of the butter cookie treat is totally influenced by the British culture.  This is because Hong Kong was a British Colony from 1841 until 1997, when China regained sovereignty.  Nevertheless, these butter cookies are delicious treats, addictively delicious treats!  They are buttery and got the melt-in-your mouth texture.  I made a batch 2 days ago and they were all gone in a few hours.  So, I made 2 more batches yesterday just to make sure I have enough to share with my parents and brothers.  (I better wrap them up before they all migrate to my stomach before the new year!)




Since butter is the star ingredient in this recipe, I used the best I could find, Pure Irish Butter!  The cookies came out richer and creamier than those with just regular butter. Since one of the Chinese New Year tradition is to go all out to celebrate, it is time to bring out the good stuffs!  :)   And, how can I resist from adding a chocolate chip on top of each cookie!?  I used bitter-sweet chocolate chips, a nice match with these butter cookies since they are not overly sweet.  Oh my, I can’t find words to describe their deliciousness any more, they are out of this world yummmmy! 




Although I may not be able to visit all of you to deliver a Gong Hay Fat Choi and a basket of butter cookies in person, I want to share this recipe with you and hope you’ll make some at home to enjoy with your family.  恭喜發財(literally means wish you good wealth), also, wish you good health, happiness, longevity and prosperity in the Year of Rabbit!





I'm sharing this post with Holiday Recipe Swap.  Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Kerrygold.





Butter Cookies:  Printable Recipe

2 1/4 cups cake flour
10 tablespoons butter, room temperature (I used Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter)
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 egg yolks 
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375F.  Place rack on the upper 3rd of the oven.

Cream butter with an electric mixer with paddle attachment over medium speed until light.  Add caster sugar and powdered sugar, continue to beat until fluffy.

Add egg yolks into the butter mixture, one at a time.  Continue to beat until well combined.  Then, beat in vanilla extract.

Sift flour and salt into the butter mixture. Use a spatula to combine all ingredients.  Transfer the batter into a pastry bag with a large star tip.

Pipe the batter on a lined baking sheet in 1 1/2-inch rounds and 1 1/2-inch apart. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.



This recipe is linked to:

Tailgating Time
Sunday at One Food Club
Mouth Watering Monday
Let’s Do Brunch
Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays
It’s a Blog Party
Tuesday Night Supper Club
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Passionately Artistic
Sweets for Saturdays

New Year, New Home, New Start…

First of all, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!  For those of you who’s been following my blog, you know I’ve just moved.  Some of you might be curious to know how my new home/kitchen looks like.  Well, I guess the kitchen is pretty much the center of the house.  So, if you take a good look at the kitchen, you pretty much can tell how the rest of the house is, relatively.  I just want to show you two pictures of my old kitchen as a comparison.



I like my old kitchen.  There are many counter top space.   Decent appliances, although nothing fancy, and for sure not top of the line products.  To me, as long as everything functions well and works fine, I’m satisfied.  You can say, I’m not a picky person.  The lower left hand corner from the picture above shows the corner of our dinning table.  That’s the dining area where we have every meal.  Although there’s a formal dining area adjacent to the kitchen, we used that space as a play area for the kids.   



Are you ready to take a look at the new kitchen?  Just scroll down a bit after the drum roll please….



















This is my new kitchen right before we moved in.  Of course, I have filled up the counter top space with my junks by now!  :P   Is it lovely?  You can imagine how much I love my new kitchen!!!  The lower right hand corner from the above picture is our new dining area, with a pretty awesome view!  You can take a closer look of the kitchen area from the picture below.  I really love my new spacious and beautiful kitchen.  I feel so blessed everyday when I prepared each meal for my family in this gorgeous kitchen. 



Originally, I planned not to shared a not so good news with you on my post.  Especially, on the New Year post.  However, my heart is telling me otherwise.  More so, when I talk about food and kitchen.  Recently, my Grandmother (living overseas) has not been feeling so well because of a minor incident.  She was in the ICU for a while and now she’s back home with my aunt.  However, she couldn’t eat solid food and couldn’t even keep her food down.  There’s a constant pain in her stomach that keeps her from getting a good rest.  When I prepare delicious food for my family, it breaks my heart and makes me feel sad that my Grandmother couldn’t even keep water or soup down in her stomach.  Come to think of it, I’ve never prepared a meal or cook anything for my Grandmother!  When I was young, she’s always the one who cook and took care of us. After my family (parents and siblings) immigrated to the States, I don’t even see my Grandmother often.  I just hope my Grandmother will get better soon, real soon.  If I get the chance, I really want to prepare a nice meal for her to enjoy.  If you don’t mind, please keep her in your prayers and wish her a speedy recovery. 

On the brighter side, my Grandmother just became a Christian recently.  My family has been praying for that for many years.  That really is the best Christmas gift to us.  Hopefully, her faith will give her new hopes.  May she finds comfort and supports during this tough time. 
Thank you for your precious time and prayers.  Happy New Year again to you and your loved ones.  Wishing you all a joyful, healthy, and prosperous 2011!