INTRODUCTION

Many younger readers are very confused the two types of prosperity cakes: Huat Kuih (发糕） and Jidangao (kuey nerng Ko 鸡蛋糕) . They are both different in term of taste and texture and most important of all, all these prosperity cakes can be eaten. I can understand their confusion as both cake are hoped to smile after steaming signifying a good year ahead full of fortunes.

But Huat kuih is not jidangao and vice versa. Jidangao (鸡蛋糕） as the name implies, is only made from eggs, flour and sugar. It is considered as non vegetarian and therefore cannot be offered in the Buddhist temple. However, this cake can be offered to the ancestor and also Taoist temple. On the other hand, if the huat kuih recipe do not have any eggs and butter in its ingredients, it can be offered in Buddhist temple. In fact most huat kuih recipes do not have eggs and butter. The compilation picture above is a list of huat kuih recipes that are captured in this blog.

Commercially , I can show all 2 pictures that I have for jidangao . One is sold in Singapore and another one is sold In Kuching. Jidangao are always yellowish in colour and I believed some stores may have added egg yolk yellow colouring to the cake to make it more yellowish.

I already have 2 jidangao recipes in my blog. One is with gassy drink, a common version in the internet and you can refer to this post: My Steamed Sponge Cake (Kuey Neng Ko) Is Full Of Gas。。。。 (汽水鸡蛋糕） . For this recipe , you will need some gassy drinks or carbonated water as the leavener and put sugar crossing on top of the batter before steaming. Though it cracks, it’s smiling is not beautiful and very much depend on the sugar quantities. In addition, the addition of the gassy drink make the cake very much denser that other traditional version .

The second jidangao recipe that I have issued is a traditional one based on what my mother in law can recalled. She told me it is basically one bowl of eggs, sugar and flour each .. Sugar crossing is required too. For this recipe, the texture is the softest and the most aromatic among all the recipes. But it refuses to smile beautifully. If you are interested to prepare this for breakfast which I strongly recommended, you can refer to this recipe: Back To Traditional Recipe of 1egg：1sugar：1flour- Traditional Steamed Sponge Cake (古早味鸡蛋糕）

Then , during Chinese New Eve, I stumbled across a recipe of Jidangao that claims  there is no need to use gassy drink and sugar crossing. I looked at the ingredients, there is not even  baking powder or ovalette or sponge stabilizer being used and it is exactly the same type of recipe that is common in the olden days. Then, such type of chemicals were not common at all.

I am aware that if it can be done without any catalyst  ingredients, that mean what I can zoom in is the ratio of flour to liquid. In order to support the smiling , the flour must be much more than my other recipes. In fact it has more flour but this recipe is able to produce beautiful cracks suitable for religious purposes. It can be eaten except the egg aroma is not as strong. For me, preparing once in a while is definitely ok and I will finish the whole cake. But for daily consumption, I will still switch back to the 1:1:1 recipe above. That version is softer and more aromatic.

Though I have reservations, but I personally think that this is a very good recipe if you want to have beautiful jidangao for certain purposes and therefore, it is worth to capture a record in my blog because it has natural cracks and no chemicals.

But I have to apologize that I really cannot recall who is the recipe provider and I also cannot trace back to the person to thank her. In the event she read my blog, thank you Miss for providing this recipe and I want to formally convey my thanks to you.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Servings: A 7-8 inch diameter steamed sponge cake

• 3 eggs
• 280 grams of white sugar
• 300 grams of low protein flour or cake flour
• 100 ml or grams of plain water

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Beat the eggs and sugar using a stand mixer (under high speed) until light and pale (about 15 minutes).  You will witness the beaten egg volume gradually increase and become even lighter in colour. Beat until the eggs volume increase at least 2-3 times, thick and glossy. Thick means when you take out the whisker, the eggs will drip down slowly from the whisker.

• Sift in the plain flour in 3 stages, use a spatula to fold lightly and swiftly until well combined. Add in 1/3 of of plain water , fold until well combined. Perform the same for the other 2/3 of the flour and water.

• Transfer the batter to a PRE-HEATED bamboo basket lined with cellophane sheet or baking paper.  Fill the batter until the brim of the basket. Steamed in a steamer (with adequate water to steam 30 minutes) at high heat for at least 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

CONCLUSION

For me this is a technical breakthrough. I personally prefer this recipe that the one with gassy drinks and sugar closing. However, if you want for home consumption where cracks is not an issue for you, I will still revert you back to this recipe: Back To Traditional Recipe of 1egg：1sugar：1flour- Traditional Steamed Sponge Cake (古早味鸡蛋糕） where it has a much stronger egg aroma . I hope this recipe will benefits those members who are looking for jidangao recipe for religious purposes without the use of commercial chemicals or carbonated drinks.

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