A steamed savoury cake made by whisking the whites and yolks separately, which gives a lighter crumb than the whole-egg method. It is straightforward to make.


Braised minced pork filling (enough for about two 8-inch cakes)
Minced pork — one pack, about 285 g
Pork lard — about 1 tbsp
Rice wine — a splash
Caster sugar — 1 tsp
White pepper — a pinch
Soy sauce — about 3 tbsp
Fried shallots — about 0.5 cup
Method:
1. Heat the lard in a wok, add the minced pork and break it up. Once it turns white, add the rice wine to take off any strong smell.
2. Add the sugar first to sweeten the meat, stir briefly, then add the soy sauce and keep stirring.
3. When the meat darkens, add the fried shallots and keep stirring over a low heat to draw out the aroma. Stir in the pepper just before taking it off the heat.

Note: any leftover filling freezes well.

For the cake:
Eggs — 5
Salt — a pinch
Caster sugar — 155 g
Cake flour — 137 g
Cornflour — 8 g
Vegetable oil — 3 tbsp
Method:
1. Separate the eggs. Mix the yolks with the oil and set aside.
2. Whisk the whites until foamy, then add the sugar in stages so they whip properly. Keep whisking to a smooth, firm meringue, then drop to a low speed
to refine the texture.



3. Fold in the yolk and oil mixture a little at a time.
4. Sift the cake flour and cornflour together and fold in slowly to make the batter.
5. Brush an 8-inch cake tin lightly with oil. Pour in half the batter and steam over a medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, then

add the braised minced pork filling,

pour over the remaining batter,

scatter fried shallots or more minced pork on top, cover and steam for another 15 minutes or so.



A savoury cake made by hand.
Give it a go — good luck!