How to steam cornmeal cake

Fagao is a specialty noodle dish in the southern region. Fagao is mainly made from glutinous rice flour, but it can also be made with corn flour. The reason why steamed cake is called steamed cake is mainly because it undergoes a fermentation process. Therefore, the fermentation process is very critical in the process of making steamed cake. But if cornmeal is used to make steamed cake, how is its production method different?

Cornmeal steamed cake is a simple pasta. The ratio of flour and corn flour can be 1:1, which makes the steamed cake rougher; or flour and corn flour can be mixed in a ratio of 2:1 or 3:1, which makes the steamed cake delicate. The ratio can also be 4:1 or 5:1, which is even more delicate. If you want to make it more delicate, you can use milk instead of water, or add sugar or honey. If you add red beans, dates, raisins, etc., it will not only make the finished product more beautiful, but also increase the flavor.

Cornmeal steamed cake ingredients: 100g cornmeal, 200g flour, 5g yeast powder, 20g sugar, 270g warm water, 100g cooked red beans

How to make cornmeal cake:

1. Put flour and cornmeal into a bowl.

2. Add yeast and sugar and mix well.

3. Add warm water (about 30 degrees, too hot will kill the yeast), mix well until there are no lumps, then add red beans (leave a little for decoration) and stir until it becomes an almost non-flowing paste-like batter.

4. Apply a layer of oil on the inside of the mold, then pour in the batter (filling half of the mold), cover it, and place it in a warm place to ferment until it is twice its original size.

5. Sprinkle red beans on the surface of the fermented batter, then put it into the steamer. Bring to a boil over high heat, then steam over medium heat for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, simmer for 5 minutes and then open the lid.

6. Take out the mold, turn it upside down on the panel, and then cut it into small pieces. If the mold is stuck and cannot be turned upside down, you can use a knife to scratch the four sides of the mold to demould it.

Tips for making cornmeal cake:

1. The batter should be thickened to a paste that is almost non-flowing, because the batter will be full of holes after fermentation and will become thinner. So if the batter is diluted at the beginning, it will be thinner and easy to collapse after fermentation. So add water in batches when kneading the dough until all the flour is coated with water and becomes a paste that is difficult to stir. Let it stand for a while so that the batter will be much more moist after sufficient water infiltration.

2. The batter should be placed in a warm place to ferment until it is twice its original size. After steaming, the cornmeal cake will have many holes in it, making it soft in texture.

3. The mold can be a glass box, a small aluminum lunch box, or a stainless steel basin. If the steamed cake is thick, steam it for a while longer.