Chinese Fried Pumpkin Cake | 南瓜餅
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I never really celebrated Halloween as a kid but I’ve learned to appreciate this holiday over the years.
In New York City, there are a great variety of Halloween events going on right now. Whether you want to participate the annual Village Halloween Parade, hit up custom parties, or go trick or treating with your kids, there is something for everybody
For me, Halloween signifies the beginning of the holiday season. Being a food blogger, I also appreciate the fact that this is the time to celebrate the harvest and see some good friends. That’s why, I decided to celebrate Halloween by craving ONE pumpkin with a few good friends of mine.
My friend Steven H, whom you might remember as the supplier guy of my Chinese Water Spinach, kindly sponsored the craving activity with a pumpkin from his garden.
Since none of us had a track record of good pumpkin carving skills, we relied on a simple craving template and followed the instructions to the dot. It was as not hard as we thought but we all took it seriously.
Welcome to the Spooky Castle – the newest addition to my balcony! It’s such a beauty when it’s lit up in the dark. And more importantly, we all had tremendous a lot of fun craving this pumpkin as a group. This is definitely something I want to do every year now.
Now, what’s fun with Halloween without some treats? This year I made these delicious Chinese pumpkin cakes to celebrate the Halloween. Like how Halloween reminds many of your childhood memories, these pumpkin cakes brought me back to mine.
I’ve said that I am not too keen on sweets but let me tell you this is one of the sweet dishes I would always flight for on the dinner table! Just take a bite while it’s hot, you’ll be greeted by that crunchy flaky texture on the outside and followed by the sweet and soft pumpkin flesh inside. Heaven!
These pumpkin cakes make a perfect snack during holiday parties but you can also serve them as appetizers or desserts. scroll down to see the step by step recipe.
What are your favorite Halloween treats?
Step by Step Illustration
Remove the pumpkin skin and cut into cubes
Steam the pumpkin cubes for 25 minutes or until soft. Remove all excess water
Smash the pumpkin. Press the pumpkin hard to remove as much water as possible. If you can, put the pumpkin in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the water
Combine the pumpkin with half of the sweet rice flour, granulated sugar, butter, and powdered milk (optional)
Stir to mix while gradually add the rest of the sweet rice four. The mixture eventually forms a dough
Divide the dough into three portions. Roll each portion into a tube
Cut the tube into 6 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball
Press down the ball using your palm to form a flat cake dough
Steam the flat cake dough in a steamer for about 10 minutes
While the steamed cakes are still hot but cool enough to be handled by hand, coat each steamed cake with panko crumbs
Deep fry until both sides are golden brown. About 2 minutes. Remove the access oil and serve.
These cakes are best served hot. If you have some leftovers, you can reheat them in the oven.
Chinese Fried Pumpkin Cake | 南瓜餅
Yield: 18
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 40
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lb pumpkin
- ½ - ¾ lb glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 2 tbsp powdered milk (optional)
- Panko crumbs (can be substituted with regular bread crumbs)
Directions:
- Remove the pumpkin skin and cut into cubes
- Steam the pumpkin cubes for 25 minutes or until soft. Remove all excess water
- Smash the pumpkin. Press the pumpkin hard to remove as much water as possible. If you can, put the pumpkin in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the water
- Combine the pumpkin with half of the sweet rice flour, granulated sugar, butter, and powdered milk (optional)
- Stir to mix while gradually add the rest of the sweet rice four. The mixture eventually forms a dough
- Divide the dough into three portions. Roll each portion into a tube
- Cut the tube into 6 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball
- Press down the ball using your palm to form a flat cake dough
- Steam the flat cake dough in a steamer for about 10 minutes
- While the steamed cakes are still hot but cool enough to be handled by hand, coat each steamed cake with panko crumbs
- Deep fry until both sides are golden brown. About 2 minutes. Remove the oil and serve hot
Happy Halloween Everybody!
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I tried little pumpkin cakes similar to these in China. They were delicious. Because they were so sweet, was it the rice flour that gave them the sweetness or was condensed milk used in the recipe. I’d appreciate your reply. Thankyou.
Hi there, thanks for visiting my site. The sweetness is mainly from the pumpkin but rice flour does contribute a little too. No, I don’t normally use condensed milk for this dish. Hope this helps.
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Hi, how long can it last if I reeze it?
Freeze*
That’s a great question. I have never needed to freeze them as they go fast in my house. With that said, you’ll be fine having them in the freezer for up to a month. Hope this helps. Thanks
Merry Xmas Yi!!
Thanks so much for your recipes and for posting pictures of step by step instructions! You are simply awesome! and super generous!! Your hard work help many of us, me, in particular to learn to cook some of these ” eternal favourites” Thanks Heaps again. Wishing you a Very Happy, Healthy & Wealthy New Year 2014!
Merry Christmas to you too Emily.
I am so happy to hear that you have enjoyed some of my recipes. Your heart-warming shout-out is really appreciated! It’s this kind of support and encouragement that keep this site live.
I thank you again for being such an awesome reader and I’ll keep the delicious recipes coming in the year to come.
Wish you happy holidays!
Yi
that’s so nice. I’d love it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
thank you!
Oh my! These cakes sounds sensationally delicious!
thanks Lail. I am glad that you like these cakes!
I wonder if pumpkin puree works.
The pumpkin cakes looks very delicious.
Pumpkin puree should work. Just make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
The cakes look extraordinary! You are particularly skilled in carving! The result is stunning.
thanks for the kind words Sissi!
Great pumpkin cake and love your amazing carving skills 😀
thank you Kiran!
Thanks, Yi, for your reply. I shall try that out in the next day or two.
Am hoping your pumpkin recipe gives a similar texture to ‘Neen go’, which I love, but have been looking for a recipe that uses mashed carrots. Healthier? So am thinking that the pumpkin cake may do the trick.
No problem Amy. Mashed carrots sound like a great idea! If you are looking for that sticky and chewy texture similar to Chinese Rice Cake or “Neen Go”, you actually want to use a little more sticky rice flour and reduce the amount of pumpkin or carrorts. Please let me know how it came out if you ever got to make it. Thanks again!
I love your fresh take on an pumpkin pie! I know what you mean about not experiencing Halloween here in China. We did not have one trick or treater this year in Hong kong. If we ever had one, I would like to make your pumpkin patties for them. Take care, BAM
Hi Bam, sorry to hear that nobody came trick-or-treating this year. I hope you still enjoyed your Halloween!
I have never seen pumpkin cakes like this before! When you said chinese pumpkin cake, I thoguht you referred to the ones that are steamed, and then panfried if you like, sort of like turnip cake (lo bo gao) which i’ve posted about before. This is a completely different creature and so amazing! Can’t wait to try it out!
Hi Shuhan, yeah these are not the same pumpkin cakes similar to turnip cake but something i grew up eating. Hope you get to try these.
What fun, Yi! I’ve never seen a pumpkin recipe using raw pumpkin unless it is being roasted. But then the steaming and the frying. I’ll bet they are great! Happy Halloween!
Thank you Abbe. Happy Halloween!
Looks like a really good recipe. But real pumpkin is a lot of work.
If I used canned pumpkin, what would be the proportion of rice flour, etc?
Thanks.
Hi Amy, thanks for your visit. I have not used canned pumpkin for this dish before but if you can remove all the water, i’d say you probably need a little less flour than this recipe calls for. The best thing to mix/roll and add flour gradually until you get that dough formed. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.
Great carving job! And those little pumpkin cakes look wonderful! Great texture, and I’ll bet the flavor is super. Thanks so much!
So golden brown and crisp….I love those fried pumpkin patties!