Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hakka Steamed Rice Cake : pronounced Bun


Cao Pun

A Taiwanese Hakka rice cake
Glutinous rice dough mixed with fragrant "ai cao" herb.
A savoury filling of yam bean, salty radish and dried shrimp.


Soon Pun

My friend's mum used to make this traditional steamed pun to sell. Unlike the typical "soon kueh" of Hokkien extraction, Hakka "soon pun" is made with yam flour, hence it's greyish rather than white color. The filling is the product of your imagination and creativity : shredded yam bean, wood fungus, bamboo shoot, carrot, dried shrimp, peanut, ...


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2 comments:

Sweetpea said...

Do you have the recipe for this? My Por Por makes this and calls it Mi Cao Pun, but hers is white...? I think she puts lye water in it too, steams it, then slices it up, frys the slices and serves it with toasted garlic and soy sauce?

soel said...

A simple bpun dough can be made using glutinous and normal rice flour and water. Knead and add water to form a pliable consistency. Then shape into rounds, flatten and put in fillings.

As for soon bpun, the best dough recipe calls for mash steamed taro yam, rice flour, a little tapioca flour, a little water and vegetable oil.

Steps are similar to making Chinese dumplings. Common vegetable fillings include chives, turnip / yam bean, radish, carrot, dried shrimp, mushroom, bamboo shoot, spring onion.