Chinese Pumpkin Cake

Many fried orange pancakes with sesame seeds in a bowl on baking paper.

5 from 49 votes

Crisp on the outside but soft, gooey and chewy on the inside, Chinese Pumpkin Cake or Nan Gua Bing is a must-make dessert in fall! If you've ever felt intimidated by the thought of making your own Asian street snacks, try this easy Chinese recipe to give you confidence! It's simple enough to make perfectly the very 1st time!

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Cantonese, Chinese

Servings: pancakes

Calories: 91kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

steamer Substitute: you can steam in a wok or use a microwave or instant pot
Potato Masher or Fork
Sauce pan
Kitchen towels To drain excess oil later

Ingredients

0.55 lb Pumpkin Flesh only, cut into 1 inch cubes. Weight is before steaming (your pumpkin will lose some weight after steaming!)
0.55 lb Glutinous Rice Flour Substitute: Mochiko flour or sweet rice flour. Do not use allpurpose or regular rice flour.
2.12 oz white sugar Alternative: brown sugar
Vegetable oil with high smoke point Don't skimp on the oil even if pan frying, or your pancake will stick to then pan and turn black.
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds Optional. This is just for a centre garnish. If you want to coat the entire pumpkin cake, you'll need more, about ½ Cup. You can also coat with ⅓ Cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs for a crispier skin.

Instructions

Cut your pumpkin into 1-inch cubes, removing the skin and seeds.
Steam the pumpkin cubes till cooked, about 10 minutes or when a fork can pierce through. (If you don't have a steamer, see the post above for how to create a makeshift set-up.)
If your pumpkin has tons of water, drain off the excess. (I didn't have to as mine stayed dry.)
Whilst the pumpkin is still hot, pour in the sugar and mash well. Ideally, use a potato masher or, if you don't have one, a fork works too.
Tip: the sugar should draw out some water making it easier to knead your pumpkin, but if it's still too dry, add a bit of water, starting with 1 Tablespoon.
Once the pumpkin and sugar have become a homogenous orange mash, add the glutinous rice flour. Do not add all at 1 go as different pumpkins will require different amounts of flour, depending on how moist they are.
Add ¾ of the flour first, then add more as you need. Knead till the dough changes from sticky to smooth and not-sticky.
Once the dough is smooth (see above) and there are no more flour pockets, roll into a log and divide into 12 equal portions.
Roll each portion into a round ball then flatten with your hand to make a pancake. Do this against a non-stick surface such as a baking tray.
Note: if adding a filling, roll the filling into a smaller ball then place in the centre of your pancake. Wrap the pancake around the filling till closed then flatten.
Optional garnish: place a few sesame seeds in the centre of each pancake. You can also cover the pumpkin cake entirely with sesame seeds or panko breadcrumbs for more crunch! (You may need to brush the pancake with a light coat of water to get them to stick.)

Frying

Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan on a low fire.
Pan-fry for 3-5 minutes per side or till golden brown (don't let it burn!) Flip and brown the other side.
Plate and serve. Best eaten hot!
Note: You may want to place cooked pumpkin cakes on a kitchen towel to drain off excess oil but note that uncoated ones will stick a little to the paper.

Notes

If you want a crispier pumpkin pancake

Go the traditional route and deep fry. The oil is hot enough when you insert a wooden chopstick into the oil and see small bubbles form. Carefully place the small cakes in the oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pot or burn yourself! Some people even like to double fry for a super crunchy skin, with the 2nd fry being about 15 seconds.

How to Serve

Best eaten hot. Once cooled, the dough becomes hard and less palatable. I don't recommend eating this cold!

To reheat, pan-fry again or pop in the microwave or oven.

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its accuracy.

Nutrition