Craving for yam cake. Found yam on sale. Decided to try out again using the shrimps I got from Bali. Read somewhere saying: “Dried prawns, dried mushrooms and deep-fried shallots add a variety of flavours, textures and aromas.” It brings back my memory of my grandma making it. Grandma have more ingredients in hers, and my mom change some ingredients, so too I change the ingredients as I wanted to explore the various ingredients and method. Got the ingredients from various recipes on google.

Yam cake is a popular Chinese dessert for Malaysian and Singaporean. Perhaps in many Asian countries are also making them. Yam cake is also known as Taro cake, it’s a savoury treat that you can find in the Dim Sum Restaurant and shops serve as breakfast, along with har kao (shrimp dumplings), siu mai, char siu pao and many others.

I didn’t garnish it like my grandma and my mom full of garnishes. Mine with a little bit fried shallots. Gave the bigger tray to my sister, then the small one half for me and half for my parents. I am happy it turned out well, firm and taste delicious. Let’s steamed!!!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rice flour
300 g, remove the skin, diced into 1 cm cubes
150 g fried shallots
1 Tbs garlic minced
1/2 Tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1 Tsp salt, plus extra
1 Tsp pepper, plus extra
60 g cornflour
2 Tbs wheat flour
4 Tbs vegetable oil, divide
150 g dried shrimps, rinsed, soaked in 60 ml hot water 30 minutes, squeezed, reserving soaking water and finely chopped
5 dried mushrooms, soaked in 180 ml hot water 30 minutes, reserving soaking water and diced
600 ml chicken stock
160 ml water
1 Tsp salt, plus extra
1 Tsp pepper, plus extra
spray oil, for spraying baking tray

Method

Spray oil on the 2 baking trays and set aside. Heat a wok over medium high heat, add 2 Tbs oil, and cook fried shallots until slightly softened. Remove fried shallots with a skimmer and set aside. Add dried shrimps and cook until aromatic, about 3-5 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook till fragrant and lightly golden. Next add cubed yam and cook continuously until the surface begins to brown, 2-3 minutes. Now add back fried shallots, except 1-2Tbs.

In a metal big bowl, combine rice flour, cornflour, wheat starch, reserved 60 ml hot water, reserved 180 ml hot water, 600 ml chicken stock, 160 ml water, salt, white pepper, and five-spice powder, stirring until smooth and free of lumps. Slowly add the mixture to the wok, cook on low heat, stirring and scraping sides of wok continuously for 10–15 minutes, stirring until it thickens into a paste. Add the reserved 1-2 Tbs fried shallots. Taste and check seasoning if needed more salt or pepper. Make sure batter is thick enough to coat a spoon thinly. Go for a thinner consistency if you like your yam softer, and vice versa. Turn off heat.

Spoon the cooked yam paste to the 2 prepared sprayed oil baking trays. Smooth the top. You will need a big wok and lid that can fit your baking trays. Place a round iron rack in the wok to hold baking tray on. Fill with enough water say about 2-3 cm space to the rack.

Put yam baking tray sit on top of rack and turn heat high and steam yam cake with lid on wok for about 40 to 45 minutes or until cooked. Don’t worry if yam cake looks a little wobbly when you bring it out of the steamer, it will definitely firm up when it had cool completely.

Be careful when lifting the hot yam cake tin out of wok. Let’s it cool for about 2-4 hours by then it would have firm up. Check wok have enough water, before putting the second tray in to steam with lid on wok for about 40 to 45 minutes or until cooked. Don’t worry if yam cake looks a little wobbly when you bring it out of the steamer, it will definitely firm up when it had cool completely.

Cut into a long strip and then cut into pieces. Serve it with chili or tomato sauce or garnish with fried shallots. If it had gone cold you can warm up in microwave for 20-25 seconds. Enjoy!!!!

Note: you can put Chinese sausages /lap cheong, finely chopped. You can use water instead of chicken stock, reserved mushrooms water and dried shrimps. If you wants it a bit darker colour you can add 11/2 Tbs light soya sauce. You can use 1/2 c cornflour rather 60 g cornflour and 2 Tbs wheat flour.

Garnish with spring onions, coriander, cut thinly red chili, fried shallot crisps or fried dried shrimps.

https://helenscchin.com/2025/04/22/yam-cake-with-fried-shallots/

For my other yam cake recipes:

Yam cake: https://helenscchin.com/2022/04/23/yam-cake/

Yam cake no 2: https://helenscchin.com/2024/11/19/yam-cake-no-2/

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