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Tuesday 5 February 2013

Fried Nian Gao - Spring Roll Style

 


I love nian gaos, but it's getting harder and harder to find good quality ones.

For the past few years, i would receive nian gaos wrapped in banana leaves from well meaning friends during every chinese new year. And the subsequent cny, the poor fellas would still be in my fridge and i would then have the excuse to throw em away because they've all turned hard as rocks.



Why do i do that? Because its such a hassle to fry the thing. Steaming it plain just doesn't cut it. I dread anything to do with frying.  Frying fish, that's once every six months.  Deep frying, once every ten years. 


So it must have been a decade since my last deep fry :P.  Honestly i really can't remember when was the last time. It's probable that i actually have never done it before. Anyways, this year my MIL gave me some freshly made nian gaos which smelled very fragrant.  They were still wobbly, wrapped in banana leaves.  Since i have not had my fix of good fried nian gaos for eons, i decided to take the plunge, using the recipe from Table for 2..or more.  Thanks Wendy for the wonderfully simple recipe. I tweaked it a little bit, and it turned out super delicious. Gave some to my neighbours and brought some to cell meeting that night. Everyone loves it. 
 

 

Fried Nian Gao - Spring Roll Style
recipe adapted from Table for 2..or more
  • 1 whole nian gao
  • 1 medium size yam (i bought the thai variety)
  • 25 - 30 sheets of popiah skin
  • Oil for deep frying

1. Cut the nian gao into long strips of about 2 inches long.

2. Slice the yam thinly, then steam until soft. Mash evenly.

3. Smear some yam paste onto each popiah skin, then put one strip of nian gao on top.

4. Fold into a small spring roll, dab the end corner with some water and fold onto the roll, pressing firmly so the corner will stick. Continue until all the yam and nian gao is used up.

From top left clockwise: Steam the yam slices, KG popiah skin,
wrapped yam and nian gao, strips of cut nian gao
  
5. Heat the oil until it reaches deep frying temperature. Use a wooden chopstick, dip it into the oil, and when u see bubbles coming out from the chopstick, that means the oil temperature is right for frying.  If the oil is emitting smoke, it means it is already too hot. 

6. Gently drop each roll into the oil. Be careful not to overcrowd the wok as this would lower the temperature of the oil and the rolls would not fry evenly. Since i am using a medium size wok, i fry a batch of 5 rolls at a time. 

Serious deep frying happening here


Niao gao oozing out, YUM!

7. When the rolls turned golden brown, take them out and dry on absorbent paper. Serve warm when the rolls are still crispy. 






32 comments:

  1. Looking good. Another great way to eat fried nian gao.

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  2. Scrumptious to say the least, get me some sweet chilli sauce and I'm ready to go.

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    1. Hi David, thanks for dropping by. This is a sweet snack/ dessert, and eaten just as it is, no need for any chili sauce.

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  3. I hate deep frying also, Esther. It makes me and the whole house smell of grease. I love this. We call this tikoy in Tagalog and we dip it in egg and pan fry. This one looks so delicious because it is in spring roll pastry and has yam. Yam is yum! Love it.

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    1. Hi Adora, i'm beginning to realise there are quite some similarities between Filipino and Chinese food - like this tikoy and lechon! I had pork lechon in Singapore and it was so good.

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  4. Mmmmmmmmm...........yum! Crunchy on the outside, soft sweet gooey on the inside.

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  5. I also bought some nian gao and thinking to make these too. Cheers!!!

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  6. Haha I dislike deep frying too.. u can try pan frying them, less mess and very little oil/butter used.

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    1. Hi Yen, yea sometimes i pan fry them with a thin egg batter, but this is still my favourite version by far.

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  7. Hi Esther! That's a good idea to wrap the Nian Gao and yam (maybe sweet potato too?) in spring roll skin.

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  8. Yum, Esther! Next time try fresh nian gao with freshly grated coconut or if you have kept them in the fridge, steam it and dip in grated coconut :) I hope some kind soul will give me nian gao in the next few days hee..hee...

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    1. PH, eating this with grated coconut seems to be everybody's favourite - except mine haha. Never quite taken a liking to eating it that way. I'm sure you'll be getting some nice nian gou soon!

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  9. hi esther, i can imagine how delicious they are, gooey nian gao and yummy yam. At times i'm also very lazy to fry them , just steam them and eat with grated coconut:)

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  11. Hi Esther, I fry these only once a year and as Phong Hong guessed, only at my mum's place. Usually I steamed and coat them with grated coconut. This year I made some nian gao but can't post the recipe yet cos' my PC has been sent for repairs. These fried nian gao is very addictive.

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    1. Kimmy, you are right, these are very addictive, i couldnt stop munching. Hope your pc gets fixed pretty soon.

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  12. I always have phobia frying nian gao cos it exploded on me many years ago. Good idea in wrapping them up first before frying. Extra protections.

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    1. Oh dear, Gert, exploding nian gou?! That must have been scary, no wonder it put you off frying it for the longest time. This is less messy and yes, i guess extra protection too!

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  13. This is such an interesting recipe. Looks and sounds delicious too. I usually don't deep fry thing in my house either. (once every 10 years sounds about right for me too. haha...) But seems like these are worth the efforts. :)

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    1. Hi Amy, thanks for dropping by ! Ys, this is definitely worth the effort!

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  14. This is so creative. I've never thought of stuffing the nian gao in spring rolls. Thanks for the great idea!

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    1. Hi Yi, thanks for dropping by! Great idea isnt it, i cant take credit for it, i also borrow the idea haha

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  15. YUM! These nian goa looks so good! I've bookmarked this recipe from Table For 2 too & I'm planning to make this during CNY . I found some nian gao at the Asian store for the first time. This nia goa is not easy to come so you can imagine how glad I am when I spotted it ! LOL Well, I hate deep frying especially during winter time but I don't mind doing it for CNY! :D

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    1. Hi Kit, nisn gou is such a nice warm fuzzy symbol of CNY, hope you enjoy this and happy CNY!

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  16. I tried it yesterday and had 8 pieces in 1 sitting. Yummylicious. Thanks for the recipe. A less messy way of frying nian gou.

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