BALIK PULAU: Despite the laborious task of making nian gao the traditional way, she has persisted in producing 1,000 of the sweet treat every year to keep alive her grandmother’s recipe.
For Lee Li Yong, 56, it is all about passing down traditions as she did not want her grandmother’s glutinous rice cakes to fade away.
Taught to her more than 40 years ago, her grandmother’s method calls for up to 18 hours of slow steaming for each batch, from evening to the next day.
Shortening the steaming time, she said, would affect the taste, colour and texture.
For nearly three weeks before Chinese New Year, she repeated the cycle almost nightly, soaking glutinous rice, blending and sieving it smooth before mixing in brown sugar and pouring the batter into tins lined with heated banana leaves.
By dawn, the cakes are set, dense and soft just like the ones her grandmother made.
It is demanding work but she does it year after year to bring kampung-style nian gao out of the steamer rather than let the traditional practice disappear.
“When you make it once a year you tend to lose touch or worse, stop making it for some years and then stop completely.
“I didn’t want that to happen. It’s like a family heirloom and it needs to be preserved,” she said when met at her home in Balik Pulau.
Lee began by making the nian gao only for her family.
But about a decade ago, friends and neighbours started asking to buy from her.
Many families no longer make nian gao themselves, she said, and younger generations may not fully understand its role during prayers to the Kitchen God.
Her mother and nephew now help her each season.
“I’m glad my nephew has taken an interest. He gets hands-on experience making them in large batches.
“My goal is to pass this on to my nephew and others who will continue the tradition,” she added.
