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Snack

Tangyuan: Black Sesame Rice Balls in Ginger Syrup

Soft, chewy glutinous rice balls filled with a sweet black sesame paste, served warm in ginger syrup. Their name sounds like β€œreunion”; families eat them on the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the New Year.

⏱ 1 hr 35 min (45 min prep, 20 min cooking, 30 min waiting) 🍽 Serves 6 · 4 rice balls with syrup make aheadfreezer friendly vegetariangluten free

In our collection Lunar New Year: menu and shopping list β†’

πŸ“… Add to my plan

ContainsMilk, Sesame. Check the labels on what you buy; brands differ.

Ingredients

Make 6 servings

  • Filling

  • Β½ cup Sesame seeds, black, or white
  • ΒΌ cup Granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp Butter, unsalted, softened, or lard or coconut oil

  • Dough

  • 2 cup Glutinous rice flour
  • ΒΎ cup Water, warm, plus a little more if needed

  • Ginger syrup

  • 3 cup Water
  • 1 piece Fresh ginger, 2-inch piece, sliced
  • β…“ cup Brown sugar

Make it yourself

Make the butter yourself β†’ Out of brown sugar? Make it β†’

In the planner, Make it on the shopping list swaps the store item for these ingredients and puts the work on your prep day.

Nutrition

Nutrition coming: the USDA numbers for these ingredients are being added.

Steps

You’ll need: dry skillet, blender, spice grinder or mortar, bowls, tray lined with parchment, pot, slotted spoon.

  1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium-low, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes until fragrant. Cool, then grind with the sugar to a fine, damp powder. Mix in the butter to make a paste. Chill 30 minutes, then roll into 24 small balls (about 1 teaspoon each) and chill again.
  2. Stir the warm water into the rice flour and knead to a smooth dough like soft clay. Add water by teaspoons if it cracks, or flour if sticky.
  3. Roll the dough into a log and cut 24 pieces. Flatten one into a cup, set a ball of filling in it, pinch the dough closed, and roll smooth between your palms. Keep finished balls on the tray, covered.
  4. Simmer the syrup water, ginger and brown sugar 10 minutes.
  5. In another pot, bring water to a gentle boil. Add the balls and stir so they don’t stick. When they float, cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until soft all the way through.
  6. Spoon them into bowls with the hot ginger syrup. Let them cool a minute: the filling is very hot. Glutinous rice is very sticky and chewy. Cut it into small pieces for young children, and eat slowly.
Make aheadFreeze the shaped balls on the tray, then bag them; cook from frozen, adding 2 minutes.
❄️ FreezerFreeze uncooked balls up to 2 months.
β†Ί LeftoversBest freshly cooked; cooked balls harden in the refrigerator.
πŸ§’ With kidsKids can roll the balls; the dough is like play clay. Glutinous rice is very sticky and chewy. Cut it into small pieces for young children, and eat slowly.
Dairy-free swapUse lard or coconut oil in the filling.
Peanut swapUse ground roasted peanuts instead of sesame (adds peanuts).
Plain swapMake small plain balls (no filling), tinted with a drop of food coloring, and serve in the syrup.

Goes well with

🍘 Nian Gao (Brown Sugar Sticky Rice Cake)

Good to know

Cooking Fats Compared Salted vs. unsalted butter

An original Teddy Rook Book recipe, written for our Lunar New Year collection; safety steps follow USDA. Nutrition is estimated from USDA FoodData Central and changes with brands and portions.