Steamed Mah Lai Ko
After my blog about the failed Mah Lai Ko, my friend, Angie shared with me this tested recipe. Angie loves to cook and I’m sure her recipe works.
I’m quite puzzled with the origin of Mah Lai Ko which has a name which indicates Malay Cake but yet, this is a popular dim sum item in Hong Kong Dim Sum restaurant. Can anyone confirm the origin of the Mah Lai Ko?
The Ma Lai Ko turned out soft and airy. It stays soft even the next day. It is not too sweet and has a great caramel flavour to it. This is a sure keeper. Angie, thank you for sharing the recipe.
Ingredients
- 180g (about 3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 110ml water
- 75g (about 5 tablespoons) margarine, melted
- 75ml milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 160g (about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 In a deep saucer pan, caramelize the sugar until it starts to bubble. Add in the water a little at a time as it will bubbles up very quickly.
Cool the syrup in a icy water bath. |
 You’ll need 170ml of the golden brown syrup. |
 Combine all the rest of the ingredients and place in cake pan for steaming. |
 Steam on high heat for 30 minutes. The cake turns out with a nice glossy topping. |
Here is simplified version that I tried out later.
I made the simplied version using palm sugar instead of granulated sugar. It turned out pretty good too. The palm sugar just needed to be dissolved in boiling water and does not need carramelization.
It’s not as golden or light as “regular” mah lai ko. . .is that just a function of the caramelization? Would the recipe stay the same if we didn’t caramelize the sugar to brown?
Hi js, I tried to make it with a simple syrup today, but it turned out not as light and fluffy. It is more dense and has a more ‘eggy’ flavour.
My auntie from Hong Kong says Honolulu has the best dim sum. I think most Hawai’i Chinese are from the area where they speak Cantonese… anyway, I have never seen this cake.
[...] is a successful version of Steamed Ma Lai Ko I discovered [...]
Thank you for posting the recipe. Follow, the exact instruction and the ‘ko’ turns out really good.
[...] Steamed Mah Lai Ko [...]
[...] Steamed Mah Lai Ko [...]
[...] Steamed Mah Lai Ko [...]
Dear Suanne, I am a Singaporean working in Guangzhou and just love to try out recipes especially those on traditional favourites. I am a newcomer to your website and happened to try this recipe. It turned out great. The texture is tender but no honeycomb effect. I used round paper cups and instead of having a nice dome shape, the result looked like ‘Fatt Ko’ with a splitting top. Any reason why this has happened? Thanks for sharing the lovely recipe. Regards, ET
Is the golden brown syrup 170ml(under instruction 2) same as instruction 1 – same ingredient or separate? thanks
Hi jes, the first instruction is to show how to prepare the golden brown syrup. You’ll probably end up with more than 170ml. The 2nd instruction is just to emphasize that you need to measure 170ml of golden brown sugar that you made from instruction 1. Hope this clarify the confusion.