Yam (Taro) Cake

This is a savory dish that is very unique and ethnic/regional-specific. I have sampled many yam cakes and they are usually very mushy and often lack the taro flavor. Therefore I decided to make my own taro cake with the help of a recipe found at Rasa Malaysia.

I followed the recipe and instructions at Rasa Malaysia almost to the T with slight modifications. The amount of yam, flour and water do not need to be exact as long as you maintain the ratio of yam:flour:water at 1:1:2  (Rasa Malaysia suggested 1.5:1:2)



Ingredients: (yields about 8 medium size cakes)

For the cake:
1 bowl of yam, cut into small cubes (half a yam yielded 1 bowl of yam)
1 bowl of rice flour (there is no substitution for this)
2 tablespoon of corn starch
2 bowls of water
dried shrimp (as much as you want. You got to enjoy the flavor of dried shrimp in order to enjoy this dish in its authentic form. However, there are ways to get around this if you are creative)
5 shallots
1 teaspoon of five spice powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper



For the toppings: (this is the part where you can choose whatever you want)
shallots
spring onions
red chillies
dried shrimps

Instructions:

1. Fry all the chopped shallots until it turns brown then add all the dried shrimps. Cook this for about 5 minutes. Set half aside (to be used as toppings) and leave the remaining half in the pan.

2. Add the yam and mix in thoroughly with the friend shrimp and shallots. Until the yam turns slightly brown. Add the five-spice powder.



3. (this is something you should do before you start cooking: Mix the rice flour, corn starch and water and set aside until you are ready to cook).

4. Add the flour and water mixture slowly into the pan. (As the rice flour hits the heat, it will begin to coagulate. Therefore make sure to stir the mixture constantly and scrap everything off the bottom of the pan as you stir to prevent the rice flour from burning)

5. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

6. Pour the mixture into a large bowl/heat-proof container. According to Rasa Malaysia, steam the taro cake for 45 minutes or until the yam is cooked. The timing is quite accurate.

7. Serve the yam cake and sprinkle with your choice of toppings such as the fried dried shrimps and shallots.



Verdict?

This yam cake tasted great. The flavor of the yam shines like a pure crystal without being adultered by the heaviness of the starch (which is very often the case for store bought yam cake). I also like the chunky texture of the yam cake which is also rarely found in store bought cake. The yam cake itself is slightly under seasoned (not intentionally) but it is compensated by the red and green chillies, dried shrimps and shallots. Serve it with sweet soy sauce, srirachai or BBQ sauce (okay, use BBQ at your own risk, but why not, if you are a super-lover of the BBQ sauce).