Chinese New Year Treat (recipe)

First of all, I want to say, I love cooking but I lack cooking experience due to working full-time and living with a mother-in-law that does the cooking everyday. So if I’m ever going to write a cookbook, it is going to be called “5-min Meals: Cooking with Instant Noodles” or “Meals My Mothers Taught Me”.

However, this recipe is super easy and I make a lot for Chinese New Year every year! It is a rewarding, crispy exterior, sweet and salty interior treat that would charm young and old! So, if Rach can cook, so can you lah!

Golden Nian Gao Dumplings
Ingredients
1 Nian Gao, sliced roughly 3mm thick
1 packet of yellow Wanton/Dumpling Skin
1 Egg, beaten
A few Cheese slices, further sliced into bite sizes (optional)

Directions
1. PLACE a slice of Nian Gao onto a sliver of Dumpling skin.
2. Optional: add a bite-size cheese slice on top of the Nian Gao.
3. Fold the dumpling skin over so it makes a triangle and seal the edges with egg.
4. Heat a non-stick pan with some vegetable oil. Put wrapped Nian Gao in and pan fry on both sides until golden brown.
5. Place on cooling rack and serve!

I know what you are thinking… CHEESE with Nian Gao?!?!?!? I don’t know if I’m the first person who thought of this but nobody taught me to add cheese to this treat so I’m going to say I invented it! The first few times I made it without cheese and I found it rather too sweet so I had a brainwave to add the cheese, which is sticky and salty and works very well to cut down the sweetness and add another layer of flavor to it! Your tastebuds would be delighted! Try it and you’ll know what I mean.

Rachel P. is a mother, and a full-time graphic ad web designer. she enjoys making people laugh, cooking, mothering, designing and a whole host of other activities in addition to writing.