I haven't had these in such a long time. I remember my mom used to buy the frozen ones from the store, boil them until ready, and serve them with sugar water. We always ate the black sesame ones, encased in a sticky, thick, and chewy dough. They now have an assortment of different flavours, including red bean and peanut.I've had some lotus paste in the freezer for some time, and I wanted to use it up before I went back to school (so it wouldn't sit in the freezer for another eight months!). I've bookmarked a recipe for these sweet dumplings for a while, and I just so happened to have glutinous rice flour in the pantry, so I didn't even need to go out and buy any ingredients!
These dumplings are super easy and quick to make, and it lets you play with your food. They also freeze very well. Try to have a high filling:dough ratio for optimal flavour. I rolled my dough out a bit too thick, so my dumplings were a bit on the doughy side. Also make sure that the filling is totally encased by the dough, otherwise the dumplings will fall apart during cooking. I learned this through experience.
The recipe for these dumplings really just teach a method. You can fill them with any kind of sweet paste--black sesame paste, red bean paste, lotus paste, maybe even nutella! I eventually want to try a peanut butter version (of course). Someone suggested that I should chop up some peanuts, and mix it with sugar and shredded coconut, and use that as a filling.
Chinese Sweet Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups glutinous rice flour
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- lotus paste
1. Mix flour and water together until a smooth, slightly sticky dough ball forms.
2. Pinch off cherry-sized pieces and roll it into a flat, fairly thin circle.
3. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center of the circle, and gather the outside edges of the circle together.
4. Roll the disk into a smooth sphere in the palm of your hands.
5. In a pot of boiling water, cook the dumplings until they float. Let them simmer for another 5-7 minutes.
6. Serve with a generous amount of sugar water. To make sugar water, place a fairly large chunk of rock sugar (found in Asian grocery stores) in a small pot. Cover it with water and bring to a boil, until it dissolves.
To freeze, lay the uncooked dumplings in a single layer on a sheet pan and place them in the freezer. Once frozen, you can clump them together in a bag/container.
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