Hainan Banlan Cake

Hainan Banlan Cake

　　　　A Southern-style snack, its main ingredient is banlan leaf, a tropical herbaceous plant with deep green juice that has a unique banlan fragrance. Returned overseas Chinese communities enjoy using banlan leaves to prepare food, and this cake is the most famous.

　　Ingredients:

　　Glutinous rice 1 kg, 2 coconuts, tapioca starch 1 kg, white sugar 300 g, condensed milk 250 g, refined salt 5 g, several banlan leaves, and an appropriate amount of cooking oil.

　　Preparation method:

　　1. Rinse the glutinous rice and soak in clean water for 2 hours, then grind finely into a paste. Wash the banlan leaves, chop and mash them, wrap in clean white cheesecloth and squeeze out the leaf juice. Process the coconut to extract the white coconut milk.

　　2. Mix the rice paste with tapioca starch and stir until it becomes elastic. Add white sugar, condensed milk, refined salt, and the extracted juices, and stir everything evenly. Then divide into two equal parts. Mix one part with the banlan leaf juice to turn it green, and the other part with coconut milk to make it white.

　　3. Use a flat steaming tray, lightly grease it with cooking oil, pour in a layer of white rice paste (about 0.6 cm thick), steam in a steamer for 5 minutes until cooked, then remove. Add a layer of green rice paste and steam for another 5 minutes. Continue alternating layers and steaming until you reach the eighth layer.

　　4. Place the steamed banlan cake in a ventilated area for 30 minutes to cool naturally, then refrigerate to further chill. Cut into diamond-shaped pieces and arrange on a plate to serve.

　　Features:

　　Features alternating green and white layers with clear separation, smooth and shiny surface, pleasing to the eye. The coconut aroma blends with the unique banlan fragrance, stimulating the appetite. It tastes refreshing and sweet, with a smooth texture that glides down the throat, and offers health benefits such as clearing heat, strengthening the spleen, and nourishing the stomach.