Sweet Rice Balls with Black Sesame, Pumpkin, Ube

Print

With ImageWithout Image

SWEET RICE BALLS WITH BLACK SESAME, PUMPKIN, UBE

Yield: 4-6

Author: Zoey Gong

This recipe was designed for the New Year's Eve banquet of the Year of Ox. These soft, sweet spheres float in sweetened milk, and feel like a warm hug in my mouth. It is always fun to take a bite and be surprised by the filling, which can range from a sweet, melted black sesame center to a savory, from chewy filling. I absolutely love all of them!Why Sweet Rice Balls? The perfectly round balls symbolize thereunion of family. Sticky rice flour is also a favorable ingredient for the new year because the Chinese for "sticky 粘" has the same pronunciation as "year 年": nian.

Ingredients

Honeysuckle simple syrup

• 2 oz roasted black sesame seeds
• 3 oz powdered sugar
• 6 tbsp plant-based butter or regular
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
• 1/2 cup hot plant-based milk
• 2 tbsp ground poria (optional)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup ube (purple sweet potato) puree
• 1 cup glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar (optional)
• Nut milk, dried osmanthus flower, dried rose petals, as garnish.

Instructions

1. Make the black sesame filling: in a food processor, blender, finely grind the sesame seeds. Add sugar and chopped butter, pulse until well combined. Leave the mixture in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. Once hardened, make them into small balls (1 tbsp/ball).
2. Make the skin: mix ground poria and glutinous rice flour together. Add hot plant-based milk little by little to make a dough. If the dough is too wet, add more flour, if the dough is breaking up, add more milk.
3. Assemble black sesame balls: take a piece of dough and flatten into a 2" circle. Put a sesame-filling ball in the center and close it. Repeat until you finish all the filling.
4. Make pumpkin and ube balls: mix mashed pumpkin, 1/2 cup of glutinous rice flour, and 1.5 tbsp of sugar if using. Form into a dough and make into small balls. You may need to adjust the amount of flour. Repeat the same step for ube balls.
5. In a big pot, bring sufficient water to boil. Drop the balls in and stir. When they float to the surface of the water, they are ready. Serve with warm milk, dried osmanthus flower, rose petal, and/or fresh fruits!

vegan | dairy-free| nut-free | gluten-free



Function/ Organ-Meridian:

• Neutral
• Spleen, Liver
• Nourish Liver Yin, strenthen Spleen

SWEET RICE BALLS WITH BLACK SESAME, PUMPKIN, UBE

Spleen, Liver

Dessert

Chinese