Chef Kar Delight

Year Of The Horse Delights 2026 2.2

2026/2/17 Tuesday

2.2 Year Of The Horse Delights 2026

2.2.1 Golden Malay Cake
《 Gold & Silver Full House》

黄金馬拉糕 《金銀滿屋》

Malay sponge cake is a dessert cake popular in Guangdong and Hong Kong, where it is usually served at traditional teahouses. The cake is made of lard or butter, flour, and eggs, and prepared using a bamboo steamer to develop puffiness. An entire Malay sponge cake is a huge round yellow cake, but is generally sold as slices in teahouses.

Malay sponge cake is one of the most popular cakes in Hong Kong.
The cake is commonly served during Chinese New Year, where its golden-brown color symbolizes prosperity. Its name includes the character "go" (糕), which is a homophone for 高, meaning "growth" or "advancement," further reinforcing its association with good fortune.

There are several approaches to make Malay sponge cake with different tastes. There is the traditional approach, as well as some special approaches (e.g., Brown sugar and Coconut milk flavored Malay sponge cake and Honey flavoured Malay sponge cake).
Malay sponge cake is traditionally made with levain, all-purpose flour, custard powder, milk powder, aluminium-free baking powder, baking soda solution, white sugar and eggs. Levain (also called "lao mian" in Chinese) is usually made with water, beer, and cake flour. One variant of Malay sponge cake is using brown sugar instead of white sugar. Using coconut milk to replace milk is also a variant in making Malay sponge cake. More modern innovations include honey.

Ingredients

First Day Levain:

. All purpose Flour 100g

. Water 50g

. Yeast 0.5g

Second Day Levain:

. First Day Levain

. All purpose Flour 100g

. Water 50g

. Yeast 0.5g

Third Day Levain:

. Second Day Levain 280g

. Granulated Sugar 168g

. Fresh milk 30g or milk powder 22g

. corn starch 3tbsp + pure vanilla extract 3tbsp + salt pinch, or custard powder 22g

. all purpose flour 12g

. 2 eggs or egg fluid 255g

Fourth Day:

. All mixture of Malay Sponge Cake

. Lye Water 3-4g or baking soda 3g

. Baking powder 22g

. Butter unsalted melted 92g

Preparation

1. First fermentation: Levain: All purpose Flour 100g, Water 50g and Yeast 0.5g, knead until even and leave it for 18 hours to ferment.

2. Second fermentation: Levain of First fermentation , mix with all purpose Flour. 100g, Water 50g and Yeast 0.5g, knead until even and leave it for 18 hours to ferment.

3. Break up the Levain of Second fermentation, add sugar, blend well.

4. Add flour, milk and corn starch + pure vanilla extract + salt, or custard powder.

5. Add eggs, blend well. Let it ferment for 18hours to become flour paste.

6. Add baking powder, water, Lye water, flour paste, butter to become batter.

7. Pour batter to baking pan and steam until done about half an hour under high fire.

Note: You can substitute custard powder with a mix of cornstarch (or cornflour) for thickening, plus vanilla extract and a pinch of salt for flavor, using about 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tsp vanilla + pinch salt for each tbsp of powder.

2.2.2 Coconut Split Pea Cake

《Rise step by step》

椰汁馬豆糕 《步步高升》

Coconut Split Pea Pudding or cake, is made of yellow split peas, coconut milk, evaporated milk, corn starch and sugar. It is a desert of Hong Kong. It is served by tea houses or restaurants. Yellow split peas look like corn kernels but it is sweeter.

Split peas are an agricultural or culinary preparation consisting of the dried, peeled and split seeds of Pisum sativum, the pea.

Yellow split peas are a nutritious, mild-tasting, and earthy legume, perfect for creamy soups, stews, Indian dal, and dips. As a high-fiber, protein-packed, and low-fat staple, they can cook in about 35–45 minutes. They are versatile in plant-based diets, often used as a thickener or meat substitute.

Ingredients

. Yellow split peas 150g

. Evaporated milk 200ml

. Coconut milk 200ml

. Water 800ml

. Granulated sugar 100g

. Corn starch 200g

Preparation

1. Soak split peas for 3 hours. Boil or steam soaked split peas for 1 hour until soft. Drain well.

2. Put corn starch in evaporated milk and mix well to make a batter.

3. Pour water in a pan and add sugar. Cook under medium heat to make syrup.

4. Add batter and stir continuously at the same time.

5. Add coconut milk, split peas, stir continuously until thickening, turn fire off.

6. Pour cooked batter to a glass container. Leave it cool down and then place it in the fridge for more than 3 hours before serving.

2.2.3 Sweet Osmanthus Water Chestnut Cake

《Succeed When Horse Arrives》

桂花馬蹄糕《馬到功成》

Water chestnut cake (馬蹄糕) is a sweet Cantonese dim sum dish made of shredded Chinese water chestnut. When served during dim sum, the cake is usually cut into square-shaped slices and pan-fried before serving. The cake is soft, but holds its shape after the frying. Sometimes the cake is made with chopped water chestnuts embedded into each square piece with the vegetable being visible. One of the main trademark characteristics of the dish is its translucent appearance.

It is one of the standard dishes found in the dim sum cuisine of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and is also available in select overseas Chinatown restaurants.

Ingredients

. Water Chestnut Flour 75g

. Water (to mix Water Chestnut Flour) 125ml

. Granulated sugar 100g

. Water (to dissolve sugar) 200ml

. Water chestnuts 4

. Dried Osmanthus or Osmanthus sugar 2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Remove skins of water chestnuts. Wash and cut into small pieces.

2. Mix water chestnut flour with water to make smooth batter. Dissolve sugar in water and stir well.

3. Mix water chestnut batter well with sugar water. Cook under low fire until solidifying and transparent. Stir constantly.

4. Quickly add water chestnuts pieces and Osmanthus to batter, mix well.

5. Pour batter to an oiled bowl.

6. Steam it for 25 minutes.

Ingredients & Preparation

2.2.1 Golden Malay Cake

2.2.2 Coconut Split Pea Cake

2.2.3 Sweet Osmanthus Water Chestnut Cake

Soon, Seasonal Salad Around The World 2026

6.1.2 Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador

Publisher： Chef Kar Delight

Year Of The Horse Delights 2026 1.2

2026/2/17 Tuesday

Year Of The Horse Delights 2026

Lunar New Year falls on February 17, 2026 this year. I Chef Kar prepared 6 types of delights for celebrating Year of The Horse, namely:

1.2.1 Grilled Mackerel Maple Syrup & Black Beans

1.2.2 Traditional Coconut New Year Cake

1.2.3 Putian Horse Cake

2.2.1 Golden Malay Cake

2.2.2 Coconut Split Pea Cake

2.2.3 Sweet Osmanthus Water Chestnut Cake

2 episodes will be relaesed. Episode 1 is now published:

1.2.1 Grill Mackerel Maple Syrup & Black Beans

1.2.2 Traditional Coconut New Year Cake

1.2.3 Putian Horse Cake

1.2 Year Of The Horse Delights 2026

1.2.1 Grilled Mackerel Maple Syrup & Black Beans

《Abundance every year》

楓糖豆豉烤馬鮫魚《年年有餘》

Grilled mackerel was an Imperial Cuisine in ancient China. Epicures praise it as "Fairy Food". It has been loved since the old times.

Dumplings with Mackerel as fillings are popular in Bohai Bay coastal area of China.

People in Taiwan list mackerel as one of the ten most deicious fish.

Chaozhou people praised it as the best fish among others.

Ingredients

Mackerel, vegetabe oil

Marinade: minced onion, minced garlic, minced ginger, salt

Sauce: minced onion, minced garlic, minced ginger, Fermented Black Beans (Spiced black beans), soya sauce, corn starch + water, maple syrup

Method

1. Remove internal organs of Mackerel. Wash it with cold water. Marinade it for 2 hours. Grill it until cooked and slightly burnt.

2. Make the sauce. Pour some oil to a frying pan. Add onion, garlic, ginger and fermented black beans. Fry until fragrant. Add soy sauce and maple syrup for seasoning. Add corn starch fluid, stir well. If necessary, add a little bit of water. Turn fire off.

1.2.2 Traditional Coconut New Year Cake

《Rise step by step》

傳統椰汁年糕《步步高升 》

Traditional Coconut New Year Cake is a delicious sweet dessert which is essential for Lunar New Year. It is known for rich coconut aroma, chewy and soft texture. The vital ingredients are glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, slab sugar, coconut milk and vegetable oil. Method: Mix syrup with coconut milk. Pour this mixture to batter which is made of glutinous rice flour and wheat starch. Steamed after sieving batter. Keep cold and make slices. Fry with a layer of egg fluid on the cake until golden on both sides.

Ingredients

. Glutinous Rice Flour 400g
. Wheat Starch 80g

. Corn Starch 70g
. Slab Sugar 3bars
. Rock Sugar 100g
. Water 500ml
. Coconut milk 200ml
. Vegetable Oil 50ml+little(for oiling pans)

Garnish：Red Dates

Note: This quanty of ingredients can make one 10inch baking pan or two 7inch baking pans

Preparation

1. Sieve glutinous rice flour, wheat starch and corn starch twice, and put in a large container.
2. Cut slab sugar with a knife and break rock sugar to smaller pieces, and add both to a pot of water. Boil under medium heat until becoming syrup.

3. Pour coconut milk and vegetable oil to a bowl, add syrup, mix well. Pour liquid to flour and starch , mix well to become cake batter.

** all liquid do not need to cool down, hot is OK.

4. Prepare a large pot/wok of water for steaming. Turn on high fire.

5. Oil a baking pan to avoiding sticking. Sieve the cake batter and pour it to the oiled baking pan. Cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil to avoid condensation dropping directly to the cake surface.

6. Steam under high fire for 1 hour until well done. That means, when a bamboo chopstick inserted into rice cake do not stick to the chopstick. Add a soaked red date in the centre for garnish.

1.2.3 Putian Horse Cake

《Rise step by step》

莆田馬糕《步步高升》

Putian Horse Cake is also called mint cake. It is the traditional cake of

Putian, Fujian province in China. It is made of glutinous rice and short-grain rice. Strong texture and chewy. Slightly sweet and soft. Traditonally, when preparing this cake, steamer is lined with mint leaves; therefore it is also called mint cake. It is offerings for ancestor worship during the Lantern Festival in Putian, Fujian.

Ingredients

. Rice Flour 700g

. Glutinous rice flour 300g

. Brown sugar 150g
. Granulated Sugar 100g
. Water 480g

Preparation

1. Put flour and sugar in a big stainless steel bowl. Fill a bottle with water. While pouring water into the bowl, use a pair of chopsticks to stir and mix well slowly.

2. If there is a large clumps of dough, stop stiring. Cover with a lid to rest 10 minutes. Then stir slowly. Wet a cloth with water and squeeze out excess water. Cover the bowl with the cloth. Cover with a lid and wait for 2 hours.

3. Place a wet cloth on a bamboo steamer. Sieve the mixture into a mixing bowl. Pour the sieved mixture over the damp cloth on the bamboo steamer.

4. Use a spoon to slightly flatten. Do not use force.

5. Use a knife to divide the cake to small rectangular chunks to allow ease of picking up.

6. Cover the bamboo steamer with a damp cloth.

7. Cover the steamer with a lid. Place the steamer in the steaming pot/wok under high heat and cook for two hours.

8 It is cooked when there is no powder sticking to a chopstick. Remove the cake from the cloth and put it on a steamer lined with baking paper. Cover the steamer with a lid to avoid drying up.