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Preparation
1 hour
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Cooking
1 hour
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Difficulty
Medium
Ant egg cake from Cao Bang is one of the culinary beauties of the Tay ethnic group. Today, let’s join Into the kitchen to try making this cake at home with just a very simple steamer pot set!
Ingredients for Ant Egg Cake For 12 pieces
Rice flour 500 gr Ant eggs 1 kg Young mulberry leaves A little (young leaves/mid-aged leaves/old leaves) Green onions A little Purple onions A little Minced pork 1 cup Seasoning A little (seasoning powder/msg/fish sauce/pepper)
Required tools
Steamer pot set, pan, knife, scissors, cutting board,…
The steamer pot set used in this recipe is designed similarly to the Stainless steel steamer pot set with a glass lid, 24 cm Delites CW-S106-1. You can refer to the product information right below:
- Includes a steamer and pot with a diameter of 24 cm, a capacity of 5.4 liters, suitable for cooking hot pot or boiling chicken for 4-5 people.
- The pot is made of inox 201 with a thickness of 0.412 mm, anti-oxidation, easy to clean and has a durable inox 430 three-layer bottom, allowing quick heat transfer.
- The heat-resistant glass lid has ventilation holes to prevent overflow, a sturdy inox handle, and can be used on induction, gas, and infrared cooktops.
Ingredient Images
How to Choose Ingredients for Ant Egg Cake
- For fig leaves, you should choose the type of sweet fig (fig leaves) so that it does not taste bitter and astringent.
- Ant eggs are usually seasonal (depending on geographic location), most commonly found from late February to March each year.
- This cake will be more fragrant and delicious if you use more shallots.
How to Prepare Ant Egg Cake
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Prepare the Green Onions
Wash the green onions and chop them finely.
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Sauté the Shallots
Chop the shallots and sauté them in oil until fragrant.
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Stir-fry the Pork
Remove some shallots to a separate bowl, keeping the rest to stir-fry the pork for flavor.
Break the meat apart so that the cake will be tastier.
When the meat is nearly cooked, season it to taste, add the green onions, stir well, then turn off the heat.
Transfer the stir-fried meat to a plate or tray to cool quickly.
Tip: Only stir-fry the meat until just cooked; if cooked too long, it will become dry.
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Stir-fry ant eggs
Add oil to the pan, then add the previously fried onions.
Next, add the ant eggs and stir gently, avoiding strong and continuous stirring as the ant eggs will break.
Season to taste, especially add a little pepper to enhance the flavor of the dish.
Once the ant eggs are cooked, mix the ant eggs with the stir-fried pork evenly.
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Pick young fig leaves
Pick young fig leaves, fig honey, and regular figs separately.
Tip: How to use fig honey leaves to wrap ant egg cakes- Young leaves and regular leaves are used to wrap closest to the cake; when steamed, the leaves stick to the cake and can be eaten.
- Old leaves will be used to wrap on the outermost layer.
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Forming the cake
Shape the glutinous rice dough into 12 evenly sized round balls.
Create a hollow in the center of each dough ball, fill it with the filling, and then reshape it so that the dough completely covers the filling.
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Wrapping the cake
Take a young fig leaf to wrap the cake, then continue to wrap it with an older fig leaf to finish.
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Steaming the cake
Stand the cakes up and arrange all the cakes in the steaming basket one by one.
Tip:- Arranging the cakes upright will help them cook faster.
- For larger cakes, steam for about 30 minutes.
- For medium and small cakes, steam for about 20 minutes.
- Avoid steaming for too long as it will cause the cake to become mushy.
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Enjoy
Let the cake cool, and once the wrapping leaves are dry, it’s time to enjoy.
Peel off the outer layer of the mature fig leaves, while the tender leaves stuck to the cake are edible.
Use a knife to cut the cake in half and just enjoy it.
See more:
Ant Egg Cake is delicious and rich with an extremely simple recipe. Try making it right away following the detailed guide from TasteVN!
