Chinese New Year has past more than a month and I thought it's a good time to eat Nian Gao 年糕 since the ones we bought are nice and hard already.
Instead of the usual deep fried nian gao with egg and batter, I decided to try the Nian Gao Taro Spring Roll recipe by Wendy of Table For 2. The idea of wrapping a stick of nian gao between mashed taro and spring roll skin then deep fried was interesting and I was intrigued by how the final product would be. I could already imagine the crisp of the spring roll!
Wendy gave very detailed photo illustration of the whole wrapping process which I gladly followed, except that I added slightly lesser taro as I wanted the niao gao to be more distinct. The wrapping was not as easy as it looked, quite hard to make sure the niao gao remained in the centre of the spring roll. I certainly need more practice. Frying wasn't easy either, it's advisable to use medium low fire so that the niao gao can melt sufficiently to create that oozing effect.
Verdict? I love it! I thought the whole combination was perfect, the sweetness of niao gao was balanced by the taro, the marriage of different textures - sticky gooey niao gao with fluffy taro and crispy spring roll skin, in addition bits of crunchy fresh grated coconut.
If I were to make it again, I would reduce the amount of sugar added to the taro and increase the amount of salt so that the contrast between sweetness (niao gao) and saltiness (taro) is more distinct. But hubby didn't like it, he claimed that the combination didn't work for him. Oh well, he's better off sticking to the usual deep fried niao gao then (pun intended).
Keen in the recipe? Hop over to Wendy's blog for a very comprehensive description!
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