Each year for more than 50 years, the descendants of Jimmy Ng have gathered and worked for days to make a delicious symbol of the Chinese New Year: the sticky, steamed rice-flour dessert called nien gau, or gau for short.
Gau’s stickiness is symbolic of the family bond, the red date that tops it and the red paper that wraps it signify good luck, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds represents the children to come.
This family doesn’t settle for shortcuts — such as microwaving. They have a system and recipe created by their father, and they stick to it. It’s not like the gau other Hawaii families make. No coconut milk, coconut flakes or mashed yams are included.
“I tell my nieces and nephews that they are spoiled with the family gau that we make,” says graphic designer Wayne Ng. “It is not a supersoft gau. It has texture and a specific taste from using dark brown sugar, molasses and the taste from the burning wood. It’s a firm gau — like the texture of a rubber eraser. It spoils us for other types.”
Ng’s late father created this recipe because friends on Maui gave him molasses and dark brown cane sugar, once readily available off the plantation. Just 6 ounces of molasses for 60 pounds of rice flour makes a difference in the taste.
The Ng family’s annual gathering with four generations takes place at Ng’s Kaneohe home over a week and a half. His wife, Kookie; sisters Diana Kubo and Joanne Kaneshiro; and sometimes brother Gregory are the key players. Now their offspring are learning to continue the tradition.
First, the old quart-size metal cans are pulled out of storage and washed. Some have been used for 30 years. If new ones are needed, cans are purchased from a paint store, then caps are cut off and holes are made along the sides toward the base.
They gather 800 to 1,000 ti leaves for the many batches of gau they will steam during the week. The leaves are washed and the spines removed. Then they are oiled to line each can. (This allows for easy removal later.) Because no foil is used, the leaves are carefully placed to ensure the mixture does not leak.
Meanwhile, wood — usually broken pallets and kiawe — is collected.
Two enormous steamers, each holding about 50 gau, are set up in Wayne and Kookie’s backyard, complete with ladders and a pulley system to lift the huge lids.
The day before cooking, brown sugar is heated with water and molasses to dissolve the sugar. The mixture is cooled overnight. On the day of the steaming, the fire is started early in the morning.
The gau ingredients of sugar syrup, oil and sweet rice flour (commonly known as mochiko) are mixed by hand in huge industrial-size stockpots.
Following family tradition, the touch of molasses is drizzled over the mixture to spell the names of those born under the upcoming sign in the lunar zodiac.
“I think we have at least two born in the Year of the Rooster. It’s for good luck,” Ng says with a smile.
While there’s a recipe to follow, the mixing is an art.
“Sometimes we make two batches and one looks perfect — like the color of peanut butter — and the other mixture is too pale, so we need to add more molasses. My father would always say, ‘You need to look at the color.’”
Water is added until the mixture is the texture of one-finger poi, then cans are filled and layers of cans are stacked in the steamers. Water needs to be replenished during the four-hour steam.
At the end the pulley is used to remove the cans. Sesame seeds are sprinkled over the top of each gau, and a red date is placed at the center. The cans are removed, and the gau is cooled in the house. Then the ti leaves are trimmed and red paper is used to wrap the gau.
A spreadsheet tracks distribution. To start, several gau are saved from the first batch to place at the graves of family members.
In the 1970s Jimmy Ng’s gau was so popular he would sell it at China Emporium, a Chinatown shop owned by a friend.
Wayne Ng remembers mixing two batches, each making 96 gau, early in the morning before heading off to Castle High School. This went on every day for two weeks — amounting to more than 2,600 quart-size gau for the new-year period.
“We had no choice. It was child labor after school — cleaning and stripping thousands of ti leaves,” joked Ng’s niece Debbie Hagihara of Kapolei.
After that the entire family would enjoy a multicourse Chinese dinner to celebrate the new year. It was Jimmy Ng’s way of thanking them for their hard work.
This year the family has already produced a batch to give to friends. They will do a second steaming for family just before the Lunar New Year, which starts Saturday.
Their tips for enjoying the dessert: Don’t refrigerate. If mold forms, just discard that portion.
Also: Slice and fry pieces in butter. It will be firm, crisp and delicious. That’s another Ng family tradition.
Ng Family Gau
- 5 pounds dark brown cane sugar
- 1 ounce molasses, divided
- 2-1/2 cups water, plus more as needed
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 10 pounds mochiko (sweet rice flour)
- 8 quart-size cans, cleaned, with 4 to 5 holes in bottom
- At least 32 wide ti leaves, cleaned, spines removed
- Nonstick spray or oil, for coating ti leaves
- 8 jujubes (dried red dates)
- 3 tablespoons white sesame seeds
Over low heat, simmer sugar, 1/2 ounce of molasses and 2-1/2 cups water until sugar has dissolved. Cool overnight.
Using your hands, mix sugar mixture with oil and mochiko until smooth, like one-finger poi. Add water as necessary. Using remaining molasses, write names in the batter of those born in the upcoming lunar year.
Line each can with 3 to 4 ti leaves to cover sides, then 1 more to cover circumference of can. Brush leaves with oil or nonstick spray. Fill cans 3/4 full with gau mixture. Place in steamer, cover and steam 4 hours or more over a wood- burning stove at medium heat.
On each steamed gau, place red date upright in the center and sprinkle top with sesame seeds. Cool 3-4 hours. Trim tops of ti leaves and decorate sides with red paper. Makes 8.
Approximate nutritional information, based on 10 servings per can: 330 calories, 2 g fat, no saturated fat or cholesterol, 10 mg sodium, 73 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 28 g sugar, 5 g protein
Note: Store gau at room temperature, or slice and freeze. Fresh gau will harden after a few days. Cut slices and fry in butter to get crisp edges and a warm center.
Lynette Lo Tom, author of “The Chinese Kitchen,” is fascinated by old-fashioned foods. Contact her at 275-3004 or via instagram at brightlightcookery. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
