Zhu Xue Gao
豬血糕·(zhū xuè gāo)
Ye Shi (夜市) – Recreating the Night Market
To the uninitiated, it’s a bizarre provocation on a stick, but to a kid raised in the Taiwanese diaspora, the intoxicating vapor of steamed rice, earthy blood, and sweet peanut powder is the visceral scent of home. Making it on a weeknight in an Ohio suburb doesn't mean slaughtering a pig; it means buying a quality vacuum-sealed block from the local Asian grocer and treating it with respect. The secret lies in two uncompromising details: steaming the cake so the rice blooms into a bouncing chew, and slathering it in a scratch-made, miso-laced Hai Shan sauce before burying it in crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro.
Before you start
Prepare the peanut dusting.
Pulse the roasted peanuts and two tablespoons of the granulated sugar in a food processor until they resemble coarse sand, being careful not to over-process into a paste. Spread onto a wide, shallow plate and mix in half of the chopped cilantro.
Ingredients
- vacuum-sealed Taiwanese pig blood cake300 g
- roasted unsalted peanuts1 cup
- granulated sugar4 tbsp
- fresh cilantro1 large bunch
- water1 cup
- ketchup4 tbsp
- white miso3 tbsp
- soy sauce paste2 tbsp
- sweet chili sauce1 tbsp
- cornstarch2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Whisk the sauce base.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the water, ketchup, miso, soy sauce paste, remaining two tablespoons of sugar, and sweet chili sauce until the miso is fully dissolved and the sugar has melted.
- 02
Thicken the Hai Shan sauce.
Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Give the cornstarch slurry a quick stir, then slowly stream it into the bubbling sauce while whisking rapidly. Cook for 1 to 2 more minutes until the sauce becomes thick, glossy, and coats the back of a spoon, then remove from heat.
- 03
Steam the blood cake.
Set up a steamer basket over a pot of rapidly boiling water. Place the cake slices on a plate or a sheet of parchment paper in the steamer, cover, and steam on medium-high for 10 to 15 minutes, until a chopstick pierces the cake easily and the texture is soft and bouncy.
- 04
Skewer and dress.
Working quickly while the cake is hot, carefully insert a wooden skewer into the bottom of each piece. Using a pastry brush, generously slather all sides of the hot cake with the warm Hai Shan sauce.
- 05
Coat and serve.
Immediately press the sauced cake into the peanut and cilantro mixture, turning to ensure an opaque, thick crust of peanuts coats the entire surface. Top with the remaining fresh cilantro and eat immediately.
Notes
Never boil the cake.
Boiling store-bought blood cake turns it to mush. You must steam it elevated over rapidly boiling water so the steam gently rehydrates the rice grains, rendering it perfectly "Q" (chewy).
Temperature is everything.
As the glutinous rice cools, it rapidly retrogrades into a dense brick. Have your peanut and sauce stations fully set up before opening the steamer so the cake can be coated and eaten piping hot.
Soy sauce paste substitute.
If you cannot find Taiwanese soy sauce paste, simmer a quarter cup of regular soy sauce with two tablespoons of brown sugar and a teaspoon of cornstarch slurry until syrupy.
The vegetarian "Grandma Hack".
If you cannot find pig blood cake or prefer a vegetarian route, Taiwanese home cooks mimic its exact color, umami, and chew by steaming a bound slurry of pureed unseasoned nori, glutinous sweet rice, and mochiko flour known as Zhi Hui Gao (智慧糕).