Steamed poria and red date rice cake
Rice flour and poria powder steamed with brown slab sugar and red date slivers into a soft, gently sweet cake — make it the night before and reheat for breakfast.
- 50 min
- Serves 4
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-damp types feel heavy, puff up easily and have a thick, greasy tongue coating, and although Bailu turns drier, Hong Kong's humidity still bogs down the spleen. Poria strengthens the spleen, leaches out damp and calms the mind, and red dates tonify the middle. Steamed with no oil and only lightly sweet, it's a gentle, damp-clearing breakfast with a cup of hot tea.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 35 min- 1Stone the red dates and cut into slivers. Dissolve the sugar in 150 ml of the water over a low heat and leave to cool slightly.
- 2Whisk the rice flour, poria powder and cornflour with the remaining 250 ml water until smooth, then stir in the sugar syrup.
- 3Pour the batter into a small pan and stir over a low heat until half-thickened. Stir in half the dates, pour into an oiled cake tin and scatter over the rest.
- 4Steam over boiling water on a high heat for 25 minutes, until a chopstick comes out clean. Cool, cut into squares and steam for 5 minutes to reheat before eating.
Cautions
- The cake contains sugar, so use less or have just a piece or two if you're watching your blood sugar; poria promotes urination, so don't overdo it if you wake at night to pass water or have a dry mouth.
Chef's tips
- Half-cooking the batter before steaming stops the dates sinking to the bottom; Chinese herbalists will grind poria into powder for you, or buy it ready-ground.
The TCM view
Poria is sweet, bland and neutral, entering the heart, lungs, spleen and kidneys, strengthening the spleen, leaching out damp and calming the mind — the Shennong Bencao Jing ranks it a superior herb that 'calms the spirit with long use'. Rice flour is sweet and warm, strengthening the spleen; red dates tonify the middle and nourish blood; brown sugar harmonises the middle.
