We celebrated Chinese New Year over a plethora of both culturally accurate, and inaccurate (chips and salsa), snacks. David’s friend Barry gave us a beautiful cookie tin for our having been guests to his summer wedding. In exchange for a wedding gift or red bag, it is customary for Taiwanese brides and grooms to give the guests a special selection of wedding cookies presented in ornate tins. For Chinese New Year, Barry gave us traditional Chinese rice cake. The rice cake was encased in a gold keepsake the shape of ancient Chinese currency (solid gold or silver ingots) to represent luck and prosperity. Although the rice cake inside is typically “for showing” purposes, and not always meant to be eaten, that didn’t change our minds about cooking ours. My mom always uses a simple mix of flour and water for the batter, and pan fries each slice until the sides are golden brown. The sticky rice cake has a sweet, but muted flavor that reminds me of light caramel. Red bean is another variety of the cake that I grew up loving.
