Koi Fish Nian Gao Recipe 鯉鱼年糕 (年年有鱼/余)
Wanted to make the Fish Nian Gao for Chinese New Year and googled to find the recipe from this blog.
First thing I need.. is the mould! I tried to find the fish mould at Phoon Huat but can't find. (Updated as of 5th Feb 2016: Saw Phoon Huat had a big fish mould. Think it was sold out previously)
Googled (again) and found it at Kitchen Caper at Kallang Bahru (Singapore). Finally got it @ 3 for $5.00.
Ingredients:
a. 200g glutinuous rice flour
b. 100g ungluten wheat flour ( tang mien flour)
c. 25g rice flour
d. 160g-180g sugar (I used 170g)
e. 400ml coconut milk (used 2 small packet (200ml) easier, don't need to measure)
f. 150ml water
g. 1tbsp corn oil
h. 1 tsp orange coloring
i. Small quantity (around 10 pieces) of raisins/wolfberries/cooked red beans OR coloring
Method:
1..Sieve all the flour (ingredients a - c) together.
3.Boil water with sugar and mix well till the sugar dissolve and leave to cool.
4.Stir sugar syrup and oil into flour mixture and mixed well. (I used a whisk for faster and easier mixing the mixture)
5.Remove a quarter of the mixture and used the smaller portion and add in the desired coloring.
6.Greased the fish mould (Remove excess oil in the fish mould with paper towel)
7. Drip a few drops where you want the orange color to appear and steam for 3-5 minutes.
8. Half-fill the fish mould with plain batter. Drip in a few drops of the orange color and fill up with plain batter.
9. Steam for 20-30mins on high heat.
10. After remove from heat, let the nian gao cool to room temperature.
11. Remove from mould, start with removing the tail till head to prevent the tail from crack. As you have greased the mould, it will be easy to remove from mould.
12. Fish Eyes -
Either:
a. Insert the raisin/wolfberry/cooked red bean for the (big size) fish eyes
OR
b. Color it with coloring. I tried coloring for my fish nian gao eyes with the use of a toothpick.
However, the coloring smudged after a few days' time.
First thing I need.. is the mould! I tried to find the fish mould at Phoon Huat but can't find. (Updated as of 5th Feb 2016: Saw Phoon Huat had a big fish mould. Think it was sold out previously)
Googled (again) and found it at Kitchen Caper at Kallang Bahru (Singapore). Finally got it @ 3 for $5.00.
Mould for small fish
Mould for big fish
Ingredients:
a. 200g glutinuous rice flour
b. 100g ungluten wheat flour ( tang mien flour)
c. 25g rice flour
d. 160g-180g sugar (I used 170g)
e. 400ml coconut milk (used 2 small packet (200ml) easier, don't need to measure)
f. 150ml water
g. 1tbsp corn oil
h. 1 tsp orange coloring
i. Small quantity (around 10 pieces) of raisins/wolfberries/cooked red beans OR coloring
Method:
1..Sieve all the flour (ingredients a - c) together.
2. Stir in coconut milk and mix well.
4.Stir sugar syrup and oil into flour mixture and mixed well. (I used a whisk for faster and easier mixing the mixture)
5.Remove a quarter of the mixture and used the smaller portion and add in the desired coloring.
6.Greased the fish mould (Remove excess oil in the fish mould with paper towel)
7. Drip a few drops where you want the orange color to appear and steam for 3-5 minutes.
8. Half-fill the fish mould with plain batter. Drip in a few drops of the orange color and fill up with plain batter.
10. After remove from heat, let the nian gao cool to room temperature.
11. Remove from mould, start with removing the tail till head to prevent the tail from crack. As you have greased the mould, it will be easy to remove from mould.
Either:
a. Insert the raisin/wolfberry/cooked red bean for the (big size) fish eyes
OR
b. Color it with coloring. I tried coloring for my fish nian gao eyes with the use of a toothpick.
However, the coloring smudged after a few days' time.
Suggestion: Stick to method a. - insert one of the mentioned ingredient for the fish eyes.
Sides Notes:
The mould: The mould is suitable for making jelly and steaming. However, the shop lady mentioned that the material of the mould is not advisable for long hours of steaming. Recommended is less than 20 minutes but I tried 30 minutes and the mould still looked fine.
Steamer: I used the tefal streamer. Turn the dial to the required timing and let it steam.
Refrigerate..or not?: If refrigerated, the nian gao would be harden (and more firm). However, it cracked (for my nian gao) after I removed it from the fridge... It cracked after a few days' time, not instantly noticeable.
Quantity made: I was able to make 4 big fishes, 6 small fishes with some remaining batter that is enough for 2 small ingots.
Color Options: For the fish nian gao, from pure orange, to semi-orange and white, to semi-red with white, or red-orange-black with white, you can play around with color varieties. For a classy feel, dust/brush it with some gold color.
Packing: ROUND container with CLEAR cover highly recommended if you have 2 fishes of the same shape. If can't find a clear cover, look for container with removable lid. If no lid, use shrink wrap instead to prevent dust or pest. Can also consider a gold color round board. Decorations piece such a gold coin or ingots or greeting words goes well too.
"Huat" time: It took around 3 days after I removed it from fridge to room temperature for the fish nian gao to "huat" (as in the black spots (mold)).
Sides Notes:
The mould: The mould is suitable for making jelly and steaming. However, the shop lady mentioned that the material of the mould is not advisable for long hours of steaming. Recommended is less than 20 minutes but I tried 30 minutes and the mould still looked fine.
Steamer: I used the tefal streamer. Turn the dial to the required timing and let it steam.
Refrigerate..or not?: If refrigerated, the nian gao would be harden (and more firm). However, it cracked (for my nian gao) after I removed it from the fridge... It cracked after a few days' time, not instantly noticeable.
Quantity made: I was able to make 4 big fishes, 6 small fishes with some remaining batter that is enough for 2 small ingots.
Color Options: For the fish nian gao, from pure orange, to semi-orange and white, to semi-red with white, or red-orange-black with white, you can play around with color varieties. For a classy feel, dust/brush it with some gold color.
Packing: ROUND container with CLEAR cover highly recommended if you have 2 fishes of the same shape. If can't find a clear cover, look for container with removable lid. If no lid, use shrink wrap instead to prevent dust or pest. Can also consider a gold color round board. Decorations piece such a gold coin or ingots or greeting words goes well too.
"Huat" time: It took around 3 days after I removed it from fridge to room temperature for the fish nian gao to "huat" (as in the black spots (mold)).
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