Ingredients
150 g (about 5 oz) long red dates, 50 g (about 1.8 oz) Chinese yam, 30 g (about 1 oz) hawthorn cake, 20 g (about 0.7 oz) each of red candied strips and preserved green plums.
Seasonings
20 g each of lard and sugar, 50 g of cornstarch.
Instructions
1. Wash the long red dates thoroughly, boil until soft, then peel and remove the pits to make date paste. Place the date paste in a wok with lard and sugar, and cook until it forms a thick filling. Wash the Chinese yam, steam until tender, peel off the skin and any blemishes, then use a knife to mash it into a fine paste.
2. Cut the hawthorn cake into long strips; finely mince the red candied shreds and green plums. Place a large plate, put the date paste in the center, cover it with the yam paste to shape it into a peach with two leaves, smooth the surface, outline the leaf veins with green candied shreds, arrange the hawthorn cake strips on the peach body to form the character "longevity," and decorate the peach tip and lower half with the minced red candied shreds.
3. Place a green plum on top of each peach to form the stem, then steam in a steamer for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. In a saucepan, add water and sugar, heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then thicken with a cornstarch slurry to create a light sauce. Gently pour the sauce over the longevity peaches and serve. This dish features lifelike peach shapes with a delightfully sandy-sweet texture that is refreshing and heartwarming.