Water Chestnut Cake (马蹄糕)

 

recipe adapted from here 
Ingredients
600 ml water 
100 gm (about 3/4 cups) water chestnut flour (Pan Tang Guangzhou 廣州泮塘特產) 
1 tsp / about 3 gm cornflour / corn starch 
2 tsp oil 
50 gm (1/4 cup) white sugar 
50 gm (1/4 cup) brown sugar slab (冰片糖), finely chopped 
10 water chestnuts, fresh, frozen or canned, roughly chopped

 Method

1. Grease the pan with a little oil to help remove the cake easier after steaming.
2. Dissolve the water chestnut flour with 300 ml of water and cornflour completely. Drain through a fine sieve. Stir in 2 teaspoons of oil. Set aside.
3. Put the other 300 ml of water, together with white sugar, chopped brown sugar into a deep pot. Cook until the sugar dissolves completely. Bring it to boil.
4. Add the water chestnuts. Reduce the heat to low. 
5. Stir in the dissolved water chestnut flour mixture. Immediately stir to combine well into a thick but smooth batter. Make sure not to let the batter stick to the bottom.
6. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Use a teaspoon, wet with some water, to level the surface. Cover with foil and steam in a wok or steamer, for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake turns translucent, or an inserted needle comes out clean.
7. Remove from the wok and let cool a bit. Remove the cake from pan and slice into pieces. Serve warm immediately. Or pan fry slices before serving. The leftover can be kept in fridge, covered, for up to a week or so.