Sesame Seed Balls

I decided to try making some sesame seed balls today. These are Chinese sweets made from rice flour and sweet bean paste. One of the Chinese buffets here, Eastern Empire, sometimes serves these on their buffet. But because they don't serve them all the time I wanted to see how hard they were to make at home. They are actually quite easy. I used this recipe from About.com

More after the jump....



Using the recipe linked above your dough should look something like this. This picture is after I had already made some balls.


Make a ball of dough about this big.

The recipe suggests dipping the ball in water after you've made it and filled it with the bean paste to help the sesame seeds stick. I found it better to wet my fingers before making the ball, because it helped keep the dough from sticking to my hands and sealing the ball around the paste.



Using your thumb make an indention in the dough to put the bean paste in.


Put a level teaspoon of sweet bean paste into the indention, and then form the ball around it.


Roll the ball around in the sesame seeds and then deep fry per the instructions in the recipe. The recipe says turn them for 2 minutes then press them on the side of the pan until golden brown and tripled in size. Altogether I think I cooked mine for about 5-7 minutes 4 at a time. I suggest trying one or two by themselves and then cutting them in half to see if the dough is cooked through in order to get your timing down.

Sweet or Glutenous rice flour and sweet bean paste can be found at most Asian markets. You can also find sesame seeds there.

The bean paste is actually good by itself, and since the beans are sweet and mashed into a paste your kid won't know they are beans. The can even suggest serving the paste on ice cream.