Put chai ko
Put chai ko () is a popular snack in Hong Kong. The pudding cake is palm size and is sweet in taste. It is soft, but can hold its molded shape outside a bowl. The cake is made from white or brown sugar, long-grain rice flour with a little wheat starch or cornstarch. Sometimes red beans are also added. The batter is poured into porcelain bowls and steamed until cooked through. Then it is allowed to cool and served at room temperature. Traditionally, the hawker inserts two bamboo skewers into the cake to turn it out and the eater holds the skewers to consume. At present, most Put Chai Ko are sold in plastic bags. Names The snack is also known by a number of English names, including Put chai pudding, Rice Pudding, Earthen bowl cake, Bootjaigo, Red bean pudding or Put chai ko. History The pudding is made like other traditional Cantonese steamed cakes. It is said to have originated in the Chinese county of Taishan, which is west of Hong Kong. The pudding reached its popularity peak in the early to mid-1980s when hawkers sold it all over the streets in their push carts. At the time, there