These Chinese Pumpkin Cakes, or nánguā bǐng (南瓜饼), are chewy like mochi, with a crispy exterior. They’re lightly sweet and so festive for the fall season.
What makes them even better is how quick and easy they are. No oven or steamer needed. Just pan-fry them, and get ready for a great snack or dessert!
Pumpkin & Sesame: A Great Combination
The combination of fragrant toasted sesame seeds and wholesome pumpkin have made these one of my new favorite fall treats. (Using a fresh pumpkin? Bill has a video on how to trim pumpkin here.)
They’re chewy like mochi, but crispy once they’ve been pan fried! That said, while the texture is similar to mochi, I added some regular rice flour in addition to glutinous rice flour to the recipe, so the cakes are chewy, but not too sticky or stretchy.
The texture is similar to a Chinese fried sesame ball, albeit a bit denser. But these don’t require deep frying and are much simpler to make!
While researching this dish, I noticed some nan gua bing are made without toasted sesame seeds, but I strongly suggest including them, and to coat the nan gua bing heavily. They really make a difference! We have a post here on how to toast sesame seeds, but you can also buy them toasted and ready to go.
Make Them With or Without Filling
You can make these nan gua bing plain so you have a chewy pumpkin mochi with a crispy exterior, or you can take the extra step of preparing a filling to go inside. It melts inside the chewy cake and gives it a little extra sweetness and flavor.
I made these with red bean paste, but you can use sweet pumpkin paste (see the recipe in my pumpkin mochi recipe!), sweet lotus paste, or a simple sweet peanut filling.
You will need very little—a 10-15g ball of filling per cake. This recipe makes 12 cakes, so that’s 180g of filling total. That said, this recipe is great for using up leftover filling from our Chinese bakery buns or mooncakes!
If you make these Chinese pumpkin cakes without filling, you can increase the sugar in the dough (up to double the stated amount).
Chinese Pumpkin Cake Recipe Instructions
In a large mixing bowl, mix the pumpkin puree with the sugar, milk powder, the regular rice flour, the sweet (glutinous) rice flour, and salt. Knead into a soft dough ball. The texture should be similar to play-doh—soft and pliable.
*Note that some pumpkins are drier than others because of age or type. If the dough is too dry to come together, add a tablespoon of water at a time until the dough ball comes together. If it’s too wet, simply add a little more glutinous rice flour.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Take a piece, and roll it into a smooth ball between your palms. If you are including a filling like I did, dig a deep crater into the dough ball. Thin out the edges, add a ball of filling, close it tight, and roll it again into a smooth ball between your palms.
Fill a small bowl with water and pour the sesame seeds into a bowl or shallow dish. Next roll the dough ball in a little bit of water to moisten it, then transfer it to the sesame seeds to coat. Roll it between your palms to press in the sesame seeds. Finally, flatten it into a 3-inch disc. Repeat with all 12 balls of dough.
To cook the cakes, add about 2 tablespoons of neutral oil to a large flat-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Arrange half the cakes in the pan with some space in between each. Cook each side until golden brown and slightly puffed in the center. Add more oil if the pan looks dry, and adjust the heat as needed to avoid burning. The sugar in the dough burns easily if the heat is too high.
Repeat with the second batch and serve warm. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. To reheat, simply toast in a flat-bottomed pan over medium-low heat or in a preheated oven at 350°F/175°C for about 5 minutes. We reheat them in the toaster oven!
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Recipe
Chinese Pumpkin Cakes (Nan Gua Bing – 南瓜饼)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (canned or freshly steamed)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (double the sugar if you have no filling)
- 2 tablespoons dry milk powder
- 2 tablespoons regular rice flour
- 1½ cups sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 180 g sweet filling of your choice (such as red bean paste, lotus paste, or pumpkin paste, divided into 12 equal portions and rolled into balls)
- ½ cup toasted sesame seeds
- 4 tablespoons neutral oil
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the pumpkin puree with the sugar, milk powder, the regular rice flour, the sweet (glutinous) rice flour, and salt. Knead into a soft dough ball. The texture should be similar to play-doh—soft and pliable. (Some pumpkins are drier than others because of age or type. If the dough is too dry to come together, add a tablespoon of water at a time until it does. If too wet, add a little glutinous rice flour.)
- Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Take a piece, and roll it into a smooth ball between your palms. If using filling, dig a deep crater into the dough ball. Thin out the edges, add a ball of filling, close it tight, and roll it again into a smooth ball between your palms.
- Fill a small bowl with water and pour the sesame seeds into a bowl or shallow dish. Next roll the dough ball in a little bit of water to moisten it, then transfer it to the sesame seeds to coat. Roll it between your palms to press in the sesame seeds. Finally, flatten it into a 3-inch disc. Repeat with all 12 balls of dough.
- To cook the cakes, add about 2 tablespoons of neutral oil to a large flat-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Arrange half the cakes in the pan with some space in between each. Cook each side until golden brown and slightly puffed in the center. Add more oil if the pan looks dry, and adjust the heat as needed to avoid burning. Repeat with the second batch and serve warm.
