Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls (with Filling Recipe)

Taste: Sweet; Technique: Skillful; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Easy.

Detailed Steps for Cooking Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls (with Filling Recipe)

During the Chinese New Year cleaning, I found a pack of black sesame powder, saving the step of roasting and grinding black sesame seeds. If you don’t have pre-made powder, you can roast black sesame seeds, grind them with sugar to make the powder.

Mix black sesame powdered sugar with liquid lard until well combined.

Place the mixture in a small container, freeze for 1-2 hours, then cut into even pieces with a knife for easy filling with a spoon. (This method avoids having to roll greasy filling balls.)

Knead glutinous rice flour with warm water (around 50 degrees Celsius) into a dough. Too dry will cause cracking, too wet will result in flat rice balls. Start with 150g of water and gradually add more until the dough is of the right consistency.

Divide the glutinous rice dough into evenly sized small balls. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth to prevent the dough from drying out, as it will crack easily when left exposed for too long.

Take a dough ball, shape it into a round ball, then flatten it into a small bowl shape and add a spoonful of filling.

Seal the edges by rotating and pinching with your fingers.

Roll into a ball and place on a cutting board lined with cheesecloth. Any leftovers can be frozen. When the water boils, add the rice balls and cook until they float, indicating they are ready.