Sesame Balls

It is the most delightful moment when a recipe is successful and i can't wait to share.  This will not be possible if i do not have generous friends who have shared many of their tested recipes and tt from Playing With My Food is my 'sifu' who so graciously emailed me this recipe.  Thank you, tt, they were the best, with all the tips provided by you, these balls puffed up so well and they tasted umpteen times better than the dim sum restaurants.  The family prefers the red bean filling and the restaurants strangely make them with either lotus or mung bean paste, so i had to make red bean filling.

Ingredients:


454 g glutinious rice flour
3 tbsp rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
200 g sugar
450 g water
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup potato flakes (the kind used to make mashed potatoes)

Filling:

1 cup red bean
1 - 1 1/2 cups sugar
a pinch of salt

Method:

To prepare the filling:

Wash the red beans and put in the pressure cooker with enough water to cover the beans.

Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then drain away the water.
Put the drained parboiled red beans back into the pressure cooker and add in 3 cups water.

Close the lid and pressurized for 30 minutes.  Release pressure before opening the lid.

Using a sieve or a slotted spoon, remove the beans into a large microwave-safe bowl.

Add sugar and cook in the microwave on high until mixture is paste.  Start with 5 mins at a time, stirring after every interval.  Reduce the time as the mixture gets drier.

Cool before using.

To prepare the dough:

Mix together glutinious flour, rice flour and baking powder.

Bring water  with sugar, oil  and  salt to the boil, add potato flakes. Stir to dissolve the potato. Immediately pour the hot mixture into the flour and mix until the flour absorbs all of the water.

Rest dough until it's cool enough to handle, then knead to make a smooth dough.(Dough is less pliable if it is kept for later use, perhaps it is only a problem for me cos of where i am - no humidity and i would advice that all the dough should be wrapped)

To make the balls:

wet your hands with water and take a piece of dough.

Wrap the filling and roll in sesame seeds.

Fry until golden,  The frying time should take at least 15-20 mins, if it cooks faster then that the oil is too hot and your balls will not be hollow and will be soft as soon as you take it out of the oil. Press the balls against the wok with the ladle and it will puff up and keep stirring the balls for even browning.

Serves