Fried Nián Gāo 煎番薯年糕

Nián gāo ( 年糕 ) is a pastry prepared from glutinous rice flour and a lot of sugar, traditionally associated with Chinese New Year.  

The sticky sweet snack was believed to be an offering to the Kitchen God, when after eating the cake, his mouth will be stuck, and thus cannot badmouth the family in front of the Jade Emperor.

Nián gāo, when freshly steam, is soft and sticky.  It can be stored for months, only get moldy if properly kept.  By then, it become so hard to consume.  

Still edible, the aged nián gāo need to be cleaned of the mold, then cut to discard a bit of the outer layer.  It is then cut into pieces of about 5mm thick.  Together with sweet potato and yam, it is deep-fried coated with batter.

Best served hot with kopi-o.

step 1 : cut nián gāo and sweet potato

 step 2 : coat with batter, fry in shallow oil

step 3 : first the nián gāo side, then flip over to sweet potato

step 4 : drain the oil