In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the rice flour, ginger, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar. Add the coconut milk, water, melted butter, and egg. Stir until you get a relatively smooth batter. A few tiny lumps are okay.

Place the bowl into your microwave. The cooking times may vary depending on the wattage of your microwave and the type of vessel/bowl you use to microwave the batter. Therefore, use the cooking times I provide here as guidelines, and pay attention to the visual cues. Microwave the batter on high for 1 minute 30 seconds.

The batter will still be very runny at this stage. You may start to see that the batter has started to turn solid around the edges of the bowl. Run a silicone spatula around the edge of the bowl to loosen up any solid dough and give everything a quick stir. You do not need to break up the solid dough.

Return the bowl to the microwave and heat on high for another 1 minute 30 seconds. At this stage, more batter should have turned solid. When testing the recipe in my microwave, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the batter has turned solid. Run a silicone spatula along the edge of the bowl again and give everything a quick stir.

Microwave the batter for another 1 minute 30 seconds. At this stage, over half of the batter should have turned solid. When testing the recipe in my microwave, about 3/4 of the batter has turned solid. Use a spatula to loosen the solid dough from the edges. Now, start working the runny batter into the solid dough. Keep mixing for about 30 to 45 seconds. If you can no longer see any runny batter, like you see in the photo below (right), the dough is ready for the waffle iron. If there’s still a lot of runny batter, heat the batter for another 30 seconds and stir until you get a solid, cohesive dough.

Let the dough cool for 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered.

Heat a waffle iron to medium heat. Grease both sides of the waffle iron with butter, oil, or cooking spray.

Use a greased #16 large ice cream/cookie scoop (or a greased 1/3 cup measuring cup) to scoop the dough into the greased waffle iron. My Belgian waffle iron has 4 quadrants, and I’m able to cook 4 small waffles at once. If you have a large circular Belgian waffle maker, you may want to cook 2/3 to 3/4 cup of dough at once (place the dough in the center of the iron). If you have a classic waffle maker (with shallower ridges), you may want to cook 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dough at a time.

Cook the waffles for 4 minutes and check them for doneness. You’re aiming for waffles with rich golden-brown ridges. If they’re not brown enough yet, keep cooking the waffles for a few minutes. With my waffle iron, I need to cook the waffles for an additional 3 to 4 minutes (7 to 8 minutes total). Your waffle iron may cook faster or slower than mine.

Use tongs to transfer the waffles to a cooling rack. The waffles will feel very soft right now but they will crisp up as they cool.

Grease the waffle iron plates with butter, oil or cooking spray again. Then, continue cooking the remaining nian gao dough.

These waffles will stay nice and crisp for several hours after they’re made. Store any leftovers in an airtight container. (See note about reheating the waffles.)