A chinese cake - Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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For this traditional Chinese cake, you’ll need to make a trip to Chinatown, or a well-stocked Asian market. You’ll need water chestnut flour and wong tong, which is a package of hard blocks of brown sugar. Find both in any of the many grocery stores in Chinatown.

Although this is called a cake, it’s more like a gelatin — translucent and springy. The water chestnut flour is responsible for this texture.

To go all the way with this recipe, pick up fresh water chestnuts rather than rely on canned. You’ll find those in Chinatown, too.

Water Chestnut Cake

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces (115 g) water chestnut flour (sometimes called singoda flour)

• 2 1/2 cups water, divided

• 1 1/2 slabs (3.75 ounces) dark wong tong (Chinese slab sugar)

• 1 (8-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped (but not too small)

Directions:

Mix flour with half the water; stir until smooth. Bring remaining water to a boil. Add wong tong and stir to dissolve.

Remove from heat.

Stir in water chestnuts, then slowly add flour mixture, stirring constantly.

Pour into 8-inch round pan and place in a steamer over simmering water. Cover.

Steam 1 hour (cake will firm up in half the time, but let it steam the whole hour or it will be too soft).

Cool and cut into pieces. Serves 8.

Approximate nutrient analysis per serving: 110 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 15 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 15 g sugar, 1 g protein. Nutritional analysis provided by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is an international nonprofit with a local office in Kaimuki. Its mission of community service includes the promotion of a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. To learn more, visit facebook.com/hawaiitzuchi or call 808-737-8885.

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