Cha Kueh [guǒ] is a traditional Hakka snack. It is made by adding pork, mushrooms, shrimps and white radish to glutinous rice dough, and then steaming it on rice dumpling leaves. Just like northerners must eat dumplings during the Chinese New Year, if you have Hakka people around you, in their childhood memories, they must eat tea cakes during the Chinese New Year. Taking a time machine back to my childhood, the happiest thing for children like me during the Chinese New Year is holding tea cakes in one hand and receiving red envelopes from elders in the other. I don’t know since when, I can no longer eat authentic tea cakes. I can’t find them in stores during normal times, and they are rare even during the Chinese New Year. Its approach, like many old stories, is only retained in the memories of the elders. In order to get the authentic tea cake recipe, I asked several elders in my family for advice. The elders would say: "Add a little of this, a little of that..." I wrote down these simple instructions, and after repeated attempts, from Improvements are summarized in failed finished products. I finally made it with the same wonderful taste and chewy texture as I remembered from my childhood. Hakka tea cakes are recognized as intangible cultural heritage. This New Year, come and join me to make some tea cakes to share with family and friends in the name of protecting cultural heritage and spreading traditional food. Not to mention, it will be a favorite with the kids!

Ingredients list added to shopping list

More than 1 hour | Spooning (advanced)

Zong leaves, cut into 24 leaves of 7-10cm to pad tea cake 6 -10 sheets, 4-5 dried mushrooms (about 15g), 25g dried shrimps, 115g minced pork filling, 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine, 680g white radish, 600g glutinous rice flour, 125g flour, 35g water chestnut flour, vegetable oil (such as rapeseed oil, peanut oil) 75ml, 2 green onions, 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of salt (used separately), 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, a small amount of white pepper for seasoning, 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, 2 cups of boiling water (470ml) , appropriate amount of cooked white sesame seeds for top decoration

Cooking steps

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Wash the rice dumpling leaves and soak them in water overnight.

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Prepare the required ingredients.

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Grate the white radish into thin strips and set aside.

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Wash the soaked rice dumpling leaves again and cut each rice dumpling leaf into 7-10cm long leaves. Zong leaves can bring a unique fragrance to tea cakes, but if you can't buy zong leaves, you can use non-stick grease paper instead.

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Rinse the dried mushrooms and soak them in hot boiling water. Place a plate on top to ensure that the dried mushrooms are completely immersed in the water and soak for 30 minutes. After soaking, cut off the stems of the mushrooms. If the dried mushrooms you buy are thicker, they may still be dry inside after soaking them for 30 minutes. Then put them in water and soak them for a while longer until they are soft both inside and outside. Reserve the water used to soak the mushrooms, remove the mushrooms and squeeze out the water, chop into small pieces and set aside.

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Soak the dried shrimps in hot water for 30 minutes. Once soaked, pour into a strainer, give it a quick rinse, and chop into small pieces.

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Heat 4 tablespoons (65 ml) vegetable oil over medium heat, scoop out half of the hot oil, and use it to brush the rice dumpling leaves and tea cakes in the following steps. . Add minced shrimp into hot oil and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

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Add the ground pork and fry for another 30 seconds until the pork changes color.

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Add chopped mushrooms and Shaoxing wine, stir-fry evenly.

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Add shredded white radish.

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Add chopped green onion.

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Stir well and add sesame oil.

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Add oyster sauce.

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Add another 1 teaspoon of salt, sugar and white pepper. Simmer over medium heat until the shredded white radish becomes soft, 3 to 4 minutes later.

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Pour 80ml of water for soaking the mushrooms into the measuring cup. Be careful not to pour the sediment at the bottom of the mushroom water bowl into it.

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Add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and mix evenly.

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Pour the mixture into the pot.

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Continue to stir-fry until the juice is reduced after about two minutes. The tea cake filling is ready, set aside to cool down completely.

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In a large bowl, combine glutinous rice flour, all-purpose flour, water chestnut flour, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. It is recommended to use weighing tools such as kitchen scales and graduated spoons. Accurate weighing will achieve better results.

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Slowly pour two cups (480ml) of boiling water into the powder mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until rice flour dough begins to form.

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When it feels not hot, knead the rice flour dough with your hands until it is smooth and not sticky. If the rice flour dough is very sticky, add dry glutinous rice flour one tablespoon at a time and continue kneading. After kneading until smooth, cover it with a large bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes.

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Divide the rice flour dough into 24 equal portions, each portion is about 45g. Cover the dough with a clean and damp kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out when making tea cakes. . Use a kitchen scale to ensure consistent weight in each portion.

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Press each rice flour ball into a flat circle.

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Use a rolling pin to roll out the tea cake wrapper like a dumpling wrapper into a round shape about 9 cm in diameter.

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Pay attention to making the tea cake skin slightly thicker in the middle and slightly thinner at the edges.

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Like this, hold the middle part with your hands, roll out the edges while turning the tea cake skin.

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Pick up the rolled tea cake skin and add 35g of cooled filling.

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Press the filling with a spoon to form a tight ball so that the filling will not produce air bubbles.

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If you weigh it again at this time, it should be 80g. Keep this weight and you will make perfect tea cakes of the same size.

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Pinch the tea cake skin with your fingers.

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Make sure it is completely closed and there are no leaks.

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Don’t worry about it being uneven after closing, this side will serve as the bottom of the tea cake.

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Place the cut rice dumpling leaves in the steamer, and then brush with the reserved cooked oil.

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Brush the bottom of each tea cake with cooked oil, place it on the rice dumpling leaves, and then press it gently to flatten it slightly. Make sure the distance between each tea cake is at least 2.5cm. You can put 4-5 on each layer according to the size of your steamer. You can use a multi-layer steamer or steam in batches.

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After the water boils, steam each batch for 10 minutes.

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After taking it out of the pot, sprinkle a little cooked white sesame seeds in the middle of the top of each tea cake, press it gently to let the sesame seeds embed slightly, and then dip it in a little cooked white sesame seeds Brush the tops of the tea cakes with oil, this is done to prevent them from drying out.

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Now you can put it on a plate and eat it hot. You can also freeze them in the refrigerator after they are completely cooled. Remember to place plastic wrap or non-stick paper between each layer to prevent them from sticking. Can be frozen and kept fresh for one month.

The last step

With this ancient flavor, I wish that every hard-working person can always get your own warmth and healing when you occasionally recall your childhood!

Tips

Note: 1 teaspoon = 5g, 1 tablespoon = 15g. The ingredients in the ingredient list can make 24 tea cakes.

There are techniques for making delicious dishes, and I have tips for each dish. You can search for "Douguo" to directly view my recipes!