Dessert : Sesame Rice Ball

Sometimes, I get amazed by what I set out to do. Seriously I never thought I would make ever make this but I did and it worked. :)

I made this a few months back while I was still in Malaysia. I can still hear my mom sighing and mumbling to herself about the fact that I was going to mess up the kitchen again. You see, my mom is not adventurous in the kitchen, She likes everything simple and routine so whenever I go on my "experimental ventures", she will definitely say "Mah Fun (Cantonese)" or simply "Troublesome". And this has multiple meanings a.k.a... "You are troublesome", "Cooking this dish is troublesome", "Messing up the kitchen is troublesome"... etc.

However, when I make up my mind, I am unstoppable, I will find the recipe, check out more recipes to determine what is the right mix for what I want to make. But the real inspiration to make this dessert is really because I am a big pack of sesame seeds left and I needed a recipe to use them.

Hence this yummy Chinese recipe of Sesame Rice Ball, often served as dessert after a 10-course Chinese dinner. If you have not eaten this before, I encourage you to try it as it is really delicious.

Simple ingredients :



1. 2 cups of Glutinous Rice Flour (available in most Asian grocery stores)
2. 1 cup of red bean paste (may not need all)
3. 1/2 cup of brown sugar
4. 1 cup of boiling hot water
5. 1/2 cup of white sesame seeds
6. Oil for frying

Simple Steps :

1. First, dissolve the brown sugar in 1 cup of the boiling water.

2. Place the rice flour in a large bowl. Make a "well" in the middle of the bowl and add the dissolved sugar and water mixture. Stir until you have a sticky, caramel-colored dough. If the dough is too dry, add a bit more of boiling water.




3. Pinch off a piece of dough and roll it into a round shape (roughly the size of a ping-pong ball).



4. Make a deep indentation in the middle of dough. Place 1 tsp of red bean paste on the dough. Tip - you can roll up the red bean paste into round shape balls (much smaller than ping-pong size).
Pinch the sides of dough to seal up the red bean paste in the middle of dough. It is important to make sure the red bean paste is completely covered. Continue with the remainder of the dough.



5. Dip a ball into the small bowl of water (this will help the sesame seeds stick to the ball). Roll the ball over the sesame seeds. Repeat the process with the remainder of the balls.





6. Heat up wok of oil, deep-fry the sesame seed balls, a few at a time.

7. Once the sesame seeds turn light brown (about 2 minutes), use the back of a spatula or a large ladle to gently press the balls against the side of the wok or saucepan. You can also use long wooden chopsticks to apply pressure on each of the balls. This is help the balls expand and fluff up to 2-3 times its original size.



8. Drain the deep-fried sesame seed balls on paper towels. Serve immediately while it is slightly warm.



When you bite into these rice balls, you will find a crunchy texture on the outside enveloped by a fluffy and slightly chewy dough and then a smooth and sweet filling of red bean paste. Simply delicious!!

As for mom, she was rather delighted by the success of how the sesame rice balls turned out but she still mumbled under her breath.....Too "mah fun" (troublesome) to make these BUT I know she meant it as "Delicious"!! :)