Savory Glutinous Rice Cake - Png Kueh, 桃粿

How about a savory Peach Rice Cake in summer? Peach is to summer. A case of trying too hard, ha! ^o^. These Peach Rice Cakes are Teochew (Chiu Chau) Rice Cakes (桃粿 Tao Guo in Mandarin or Png Kueh in Hokkien(Fujian) dialect) are pre-fried glutinous rice stuffed in rice-flour dough pastry and then steamed prior to consumption.

The Inside...

The rice is typically fried with shallots and dried prawns (hei bi) before being wrapped around by the pastry dough that is often smooth and slightly sticky. The filling is stuffed generously into the pastry as if it's bursting out of the pastry skin when you take your first bite! Today, this rice filling is revved up by pork cubes, peanuts, Chinese celery and white pepper. Finally, the entity is called a CAKE! A peachy-looking cake.

Two to three of them is breakfast...or can be lunch

So named 桃粿 (literally meaning Peach Cake) because of the shape resemblance to the peach. Usually, you see Pink Teochew Rice Cakes like what you see at Asian Eats who shares a recipe at the same time. Pinkish-Red is to peach and is to being auspicious. I was kinda shocked when I found out that White Teochew Rice Cakes are traditionally offered to the deceased at the alter or relates to something not-so-auspicious. The stall in Singapore that my Dad bought these kuehs from, must have overlooked this and apparently, my Dad did not care much either...as long as it is delicious.


I used to prefer Bamboo Shoot Dumplings (Soon Kueh) to these Rice Cakes when I was younger but now, I am impartial to both.

Tell me the celebratory food in your culture; and share any food taboos you know of.

Tag: cakes, savory cake, snacks

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