Taro cake or wu tao gou is another classic dim sum dish that is also called yam cake. It is super easy to make using only shredded taro, rice flour, meat ingredients, and seasonings. My version of this dim sum staple only requires a few minutes of initial preparation and about 30 minutes of steaming.
What Is Taro?
First, let’s talk about the main ingredient, taro. Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is a type of root vegetable from the Araceae plant family. When looking for taro in the store, it usually has brown-grayish skin with ring patterns.
If you see a pre-cut taro, it has white flesh with light purple tiny dots. Taro is naturally sweet-tasting with a hint of nuttiness. It is a common ingredient in Chinese dishes and can be used in various ways, including taro sago dessert soup, taro balls, deep-fried sugared taro, and taro paste.
Although it is not a sweet potato, taro has similar features, such as its starchy taste and texture. Keep in mind taro is toxic when eaten raw and can cause skin irritation because of its high oxalate crystal content. So, make sure to cook the taro thoroughly and wash your hands after touching it.
What To Know About Taro Cake (Yam Cake)
So, how do we use taro for this recipe? In my version of Chinese taro cake, I make shredded taro and combine it with cooked minced meat, sausage, and dried shrimp. I season it with salt, sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder and mix everything with rice flour and water.
Lastly, the taro mixture is placed in a tray and topped with sesame seeds, ready for steaming. If you want more flavor, you can add more toppings like fried shallots, fried garlic, or chopped green onions. Similar to my Chinese Turnip Cake recipe, you can pan-fry the steamed cake for a golden and crispy outer layer.
I recommend eating this cake with a sweet dipping sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, or chili sauce. If eating this cake alone, sprinkle it with more salt for a tasty bite. Have this for breakfast or as a snack at any time of the day.
Got leftover taro? Don’t throw them out just yet and use it for these recipes:
- Sweet & Fluffy Steamed Taro Bun
- Taro Sago (Tapioca) Dessert Soup
- How To Make Taro Balls From Scratch
Ingredients For Taro Cake (Yam Cake)
Let’s take a closer look at each ingredient in this recipe. In this section, I share pieces of information about each ingredient, from alternatives to preparation. Have a quick read on this section before starting with the recipe steps.
- Taro: I suggest using fresh whole taro so you can make long strips or shreds. However, canned or frozen taro also works well for the recipe. Taro is typically available in Asian supermarkets or the international section of grocery stores.
- Minced meat: You can use minced pork, beef, or chicken. If you prefer non-meat ingredients, I recommend minced rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms or ground tofu.
- Sausage: Any type of sausage will do. But if you want to make it Chinese-style, use Chinese sausage, also known as lap cheong or lap chong (腊肠). It is sweet and smoky and is available in the international section of grocery stores or on Amazon. Chinese sausage is a fantastic ingredient for fried rice, like in my Chinese Sausage Fried Rice recipe.
- Dried shrimp: Some dried shrimp are ready to eat, while some require rehydration by soaking in water. If you need to rehydrate, it will require pre-soaking and preparing this in advance. It generally takes 30 minutes to a few hours to soak and soften. When preparing dried shrimp, it has to be washed first before soaking. Then, drain the water and chop or mash the shrimp before stir-frying. However, you can use the shrimp as a whole and no need to chop them into bits.
- Seasonings: I use salt, sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder. For the sugar, you can use white sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, or muscovado. Chinese five-spice powder is easily accessible in the spice section of most grocery stores. I recommend making your own by following my Chinese Five Spice Powder If you don’t have Chinese five-spice powder, try any of the 5 Best Chinese Five Spice Substitutes I have listed.
- Rice flour: Rice flour is produced by milling long or medium-grain white rice, such as japonica, sinandomeng, angelica, or indica, to name a few. It is available in white or brown rice flour. With rice flour, it adds a slight chewy texture to the cake. Take note that this is not the same as glutinous rice flour, which is made from glutinous rice or sticky rice. If you use glutinous rice flour, the cake will be more sticky, chewy, and firm.
- White sesame seeds: White sesame seeds are nutty and crunchy. It can be swapped with black sesame seeds without a noticeable difference in taste and texture. However, take note that black sesame seeds tend to be more potent than white.
What You Need To Make Taro Cake (Yam Cake)
The important items you need are a pan for stir-frying, a tray for steaming, and of course, a steamer. Don’t have a steaming appliance? It’s not a problem! Follow my 5 techniques on how to steam without a steamer, using a pan with steamer rack, microwave, pan with sieve, rice cooker, and instant pot.
As you can see in my list of ingredients, the meat ingredients don’t have exact measurements. That is because the amount entirely depends on how much meat you want to add to the mixture. As long as all the ingredients fit into your mold and are blended well, you are good to go.
Kitchenware
- Knife and chopping board
- Non-stick pan
- Stirrer
- Oil for greasing the tray mold
- Pastry brush
- Tray for molding the cake
- Steamer
Ingredients
You can start by using 500 grams of shredded taro. From there, you can adjust the amount of minced meat, sausage, and dried shrimp. It is generally up to you if you want the cake to be overloaded with meat ingredients or much less.
Don’t forget to adjust the seasonings to taste. Depending on the amount of taro and meat, you may need to tweak the amount of rice flour and water as well.
- 500g Shredded taro
- Minced meat
- 2 Sausage
- 30g Dried shrimp
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1/3 tbsp five-spice powder
- A large bowl of rice flour
- Half a bowl of water
- White sesame seeds
Steps To Make Taro Cake (Yam Cake)
Begin the recipe by shredding the taro, stir-frying the meat ingredients, and combining them with seasonings and rice flour mixture. The steaming step only requires 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean after poking through. You can keep this dish in the fridge for 3 to 5 days or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Reheating is easy! Use the steaming method to reheat it for about 10 minutes or just your microwave or oven. Watch my tutorial guide on Instagram or TikTok to learn more.
Clean and peel the skin of the taro.
Slice the taro into thin shreds using a knife. You can also use a grater to make finer and smaller cuts.
In a non-stick pan, stir-fry the minced meat, sausage, and dried shrimp. There is no need to add oil as the meat will release its fat to serve as oil.
In a bowl, put the shredded taro along with the cooked meat.
Season with salt, white sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
Then, add a large bowl of rice flour and half a bowl of water. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
Next, take your tray and grease it to make the cake easier to unmold.
Place the shredded taro mixture into the tray and flatten it.
Sprinkle white sesame seeds on top.
Steam for 30 minutes on high heat. You will know the cake is cooked using the toothpick test.
After 30 minutes, let it cool before cutting the cake into small pieces. When the cake cools down, it will become more firm for cutting.
As an optional step, heat a little bit of oil in the pan and pan-fry the taro cake on both sides. Pan-fry until each side is golden brown and crispy. Follow this optional step if you prefer an extra crunch.
Top it with chopped green onions, fried shallots, or fried garlic and enjoy it with your preferred dipping sauce.
Steamed Chinese Taro Cake (Yam Cake)
Equipment
- Knife and chopping board
- Non-stick pan
- Stirrer
- Oil for greasing the tray mold
- Tray for molding the cake
- Steamer
Ingredients
- 500 g Shredded taro
- Minced meat
- 2 Sausage
- 30 g Dried shrimp
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 1/3 tbsp five-spice powder
- A large bowl of rice flour
- Half a bowl of water
- White sesame seeds
Instructions
- Clean and peel the skin of the taro.
- Slice the taro into thin shreds using a knife. You can also use a grater to make finer and smaller cuts.
- In a non-stick pan, stir-fry the minced meat, sausage, and dried shrimp. There is no need to add oil as the meat will release its fat to serve as oil.
- In a bowl, put the shredded taro along with the cooked meat.
- Season with salt, white sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Then, add a large bowl of rice flour and half a bowl of water.
- Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
- Next, take your tray and grease it to make the cake easier to unmold.
- Place the shredded taro mixture into the tray and flatten it.
- Sprinkle white sesame seeds on top.
- Steam for 30 minutes on high heat. You will know the cake is cooked using the toothpick test.
- After 30 minutes, let it cool before cutting the cake into small pieces. When the cake cools down, it will become more firm for cutting.
- As an optional step, heat a little bit of oil in the pan and pan-fry the taro cake on both sides. Pan-fry until each side is golden brown and crispy. Follow this optional step if you prefer an extra crunch.
- Top it with chopped green onions, fried shallots, or fried garlic and enjoy it with your preferred dipping sauce.
