Serves: 8
Total Calories: 1,312
1. Prepare the red bean paste (from the Edit Tap, click to open recipe and follow instructions).
2. Generously oil a heatproof bowl, about 8 to 9 inches in diameter. Arrange the fruit and nuts (from the Edit Tap, click to open recipe and select combinations) at the bottom in a decorative circular design. (This design may also extend up the sides of the bowl.)
3. Meanwhile wash glutinous rice to remove excess starch. Transfer to a heavy pan and add water. Bring to a boil over high heat then cook, covered, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low cook, covered, 20 minutes more.
4. Add sugar and oil to rice, mixing well to blend. Spoon half the rice into the heatproof bowl, being careful not to disturb the fruit and nut pattern.
5. Spread red bean paste over rice. Then cover with remaining rice, leaving about 1-inch headroom at the top of the bowl. (Make sure the bean paste is completely covered with rice otherwise it will run into the rest of the pudding and spoil its appearance.)
6. Cover the bowl with foil. Steam 45 minutes to 1 hour (see HOW-TO, _Steaming).
7. Remove the bowl and place a large flat serving plate over the top. In one quick, decisive motion, invert the contents of bowl onto the plate so the pudding, with its fruit and nut pattern on top, is intact. (The edges of the pudding may be loosened with a spatula before the bowl is inverted.)
8. Serve hot or cold with or without a sweetened water syrup (see Eight Precious Pudding: Sweetened Water).
NOTE: This dish, also called Eight Jewel or Eight Treasure Pudding, is primarily a banquet dessert. It may be cooked in advance, refrigerated in its bowl, then reheated by steaming another 45 minutes or so. It may also be frozen, before steaming, and later cooked without preliminary thawing or else frozen after steaming and reheated in the same manner.
VARIATONS:
* For the oil, substitute lard.
* For the red bean paste, substitute pureed Chinese red dates, canned chestnut paste or canned coconut filling.
* Before arranging the fruit and nuts in step 2, put down a thin layer of cooked rice at the bottom of the bowl then press fruit and nuts well into the rice so that they'll show through when the pudding is inverted.
* Arrange 3/4 of the fruit and nuts at the bottom of the bowl, the remainder on top.
* In step 3, simmer the rice, covered, 15 minutes, in 3 1/2 cups water. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and simmer, covered, 15 minutes more. In step 4, add with the oil only 1/4 cup sugar.
* In step 3, after cooking the rice 5 minutes, add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup ground suet then continue the cooking. In step 4, add 1/4 cup sugar, but omit the oil.
* For the rice, substitute half-rice and half-barley, both cooked. Arrange in alternating layers.
* Instead of cooking the pudding in one large bowl, steam in individual custard cups or molds.
The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.
This Eight Precious Pudding recipe is from the Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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