Milky Yam Cakes — Low in Fat and Full of Potassium
By Vivian
Why You'll Love It
Yam is well known as a food that's gentle on the stomach — nutritious, mild, easy to digest. I usually use it in soup, but today let's do something different and turn it into these milky yam cakes.
No water at all, no oil if you don't want it, no special equipment — just a skillet.
Soft and dense with a big dairy aroma, lightly sweet and not cloying. Fermented dough plus yam is very kind to your stomach; grandparents and kids both love them. Perfect for breakfast or a little afternoon bite.
Ingredients
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1¼ cups (150 g) all-purpose flour | 5¼ oz (150 g) cooked Chinese yam |
| 1 egg (about 2 oz / 55 g) | ¾ tsp (2 g) instant yeast |
| 1½ tbsp (10 g) whole milk powder | 1¼ tbsp (15 g) sugar |
| 2 tsp (10 g) butter | |
Ingredient Notes
- Iron-stick yam is starchy and low in water — the best kind for these cakes.
- Mash the yam while it's hot after steaming, but let it cool before adding the yeast.
- Use whole milk powder; that's where the dairy flavor comes from.
- The 2 tsp (10 g) of butter is for aroma — swap in the same amount of corn oil if you prefer.
- Roll the dough to ¼ in (0.5 cm); any thicker and the middle won't cook through.
Instructions
-
1
Peel and cube the yam and steam until tender. Mash it smooth while hot, let it cool to just warm, then add the egg, milk powder, yeast, softened butter, and sugar, and mix well.
-
2
Add the flour in stages, stir until shaggy, then knead by hand into a smooth, fine dough that doesn't stick.
-
3
Cover and let it rise somewhere warm until doubled.
-
4
Turn the risen dough out onto the board, knead it repeatedly to deflate, and roll it into an even sheet ¼ in (0.5 cm) thick.
-
5
Cut out rounds with a cookie cutter or a glass. Gather the scraps, re-roll, and cut again until it's all used up.
-
6
Arrange the rounds on parchment, cover, and let them rise a second time until they feel light and puffy and have grown to 1½ times.
-
7
No oil in the pan. Add the cakes, keep the heat at its lowest, and cook with the lid on.
-
8
Once one side is set and lightly golden, flip and keep going until both sides are golden. Press the edge — if it springs back quickly without collapsing, they're done. You can also bake them at 350°F (180°C) for 15 minutes.
-
9
These are wholesome, tasty, and easy to digest. Skip the sugar if you don't like sweet things; you can also add chopped jujubes or dried cranberries to the dough, or fill them with purple sweet potato or red bean paste. Very versatile.
Recipe Notes
Milky Yam Cakes
dough made with mashed Chinese yam, egg, and milk powder. No water, no oil needed, cooked slowly in a skillet over the lowest heat. Soft, dense, and full of dairy flavor.
Time Needed
Prep Ahead
- Peel, steam, and mash the yam ahead of time and let it cool.
- The dough benefits from a rest in the fridge — it shapes more easily and doesn't spring back.
- 【Yield】1¼ cups (150 g) flour plus 5¼ oz (150 g) yam makes about 20 small cakes.
- 【Key ratios】Flour to yam = 1:1, no water added; ¾ tsp (2 g) yeast, 1½ tbsp (10 g) milk powder, 2 tsp (10 g) butter.
- 【Heat】No oil in the pan, lowest heat throughout with the lid on, until both sides are golden and a press springs back.
- 【Rising】First rise to double; after cutting, rise to 1½ times and wait until they feel light before cooking.
- 【Storage & reheating】Refrigerate 2 days, freeze 2 weeks; reheat in a skillet or steamer 5 minutes.
- 【Common problems】Sticky dough means the yam held a lot of water — add flour. Burnt outside, raw inside means the heat was too high.
Nutrition (per 100 g, estimated)
| Calories | about 251 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | about 7.5 g |
| Fat | about 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | about 44 g |
| of which sugars | about 8 g |
| Fiber | about 1.5 g |
| Sodium | about 120 mg |
Estimated from the ingredient amounts, not lab tested. One cake is about 0.9 oz (25 g), roughly 63 kcal, calculated at 4 / 9 / 4 kcal per g of protein / fat / carbs.