Niangao is a quintessential New Year food for a couple of reasons. Like many New Year foods, it’s a homonym or approximate homonym of a lucky phrase or idiom. In this case, niangao sounds very similar to “nian nian gao sheng,“ getting better every year.
There’s also a folk story that says that niangao was fed to the Kitchen God, a god who watched over everyone while they cooked, as a bribe to ensure a favorable report to the Jade Emperor.
But apart from anything else, niangao tastes great so let’s get started.
First we have to boil the sugar in the water. Keep stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved. Allow the solution to cool.
Boil a pan of water and add the Chinese dates (or other dried fruit) to soften it up. This will take about 30 minutes, but don’t leave it in for too long or you will start to lose flavor. Remove the pits from the dates.
Take a large bowl and put the glutinous rice in it. Now pour in the sugar water solution, plus a little bit of milk and start kneading the dough. Add a little bit of water until the dough has a nice smooth texture. Take about half of the dates and knead them into the dough.
Place the dough in a well-oiled cake pan. Sprinkle the rest of the dates and the sesame seeds on the top and cover the surface.
Steam the pudding over a saucepan of boiling water until the cake starts to separate from the side of the baking pan. Allow to cool then place in the refrigerator over night.
Serving suggestion: Cut the cake into quarters, then serve as is, or microwave for a few seconds to warm it up.
(JOHN PHILLIPS, STAFF WRITER)
過年時，餐桌上絕對少不了年糕。它和許多年菜一樣，諧音都蘊含吉祥之意。年糕諧音「年高」，象徵「年年高升」。
民間傳說年糕是用來討好家中灶神的牲禮，希望祂返回天庭向玉皇大帝述職時，能多美言幾句。
除此之外，年糕也是極美味的一道餐點，
我們現在就準備動手吧！
首先，把糖和水一起煮滾。持續攪拌，直到糖全部溶解。待糖漿冷卻。
燒一鍋水，把紅棗（或其他乾果）放入滾水中煮軟，約三十分鐘後撈起，以免滾煮太久失去風味。去掉棗核。
把糯米放進大碗中，倒入糖漿和一點牛奶後，開始揉捏糯米團。一點一點加水，直到糯米團呈現平滑手感。再取約75公克的紅棗加入糯米團一起揉捏。
把糯米團放在塗了油的蛋糕烤盤內，灑上剩餘的紅棗和白芝麻後封住表面。
把黏稠的米漿團放入蒸鍋中蒸煮，直到年糕和烤盤壁之間出現空隙。把年糕放冷後，放入冰箱隔夜保存。
食用建議：把年糕切成四等份即可食用，也可放入微波爐加熱幾秒後再享用。
（翻譯：林倩如）
Many consumers are guilty of filling drawers or closets with old laptops, cellphones, fitness trackers and other electronic devices once they are no longer needed. It’s hard to know where to recycle such items, or it seems costly and inconvenient to do so. The world generates millions of tons of electronic waste — also called e-waste — each year. According to the UN’s most recent estimate, people worldwide produced 62 million metric tons of e-waste in 2022, and only about 22 percent of it was properly recycled. The US’ Environmental Protection Agency estimates that less than a quarter of e-waste is
You’re sitting in class when a classmate asks to borrow a pencil. It seems like a small favor, so you agree without hesitation. The following week, the same classmate asks to share your notes. Later, they request help with a group project. You agree each time — after all, you helped out the first time — but before you know it, it has become automatic. This scenario demonstrates the “foot-in-the-door technique,” a psychological concept that shows how agreeing to small, acceptable demands makes it easier to accept larger ones later on. The name for this strategy comes from door-to-door
A: The four-day Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend begins Friday and will run until Monday. Are you going to sweep your ancestors’ tombs? B: I did in advance last weekend, so I can go to Kaohsiung to see the musical “The Phantom of the Opera.” A: Wow, is “Phantom” touring Taiwan again? It debuted in 1986, so this year marks the 40th anniversary of the show. B: And it’s not just touring Kaohsiung starting March 31, but also Taipei starting April 21 and Taichung starting May 26. A: “Phantom” is one of the world’s Four Major Musicals. I’ve seen all of them, except “Les
Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Gig Tripping “Gig tripping” combines concerts with travel. People fly to see their favorite artists perform — usually abroad—and spend a few days sightseeing before or after the show. While die-hard fans have done this since the 1960s, the post-pandemic travel boom changed the game. Even people who aren’t superfans are now booking international concert trips because they want to make the most of travel opportunities. This trend exploded in the US, as the math makes sense. Domestic concert tickets are so costly that flying abroad for the show plus tourism expenses often matches or even beats the price
RSS