♪
When planning an outing, is there a certain food that you associate with the destination of your errand …. a specific shop, specific area, on the way you visiting a friend, your doctor’s appointment, and so on? I have one for everywhere I go. For instance, when going to Costco, I must have their churro; San Francisco Japantown, a couple of oden set (of course, there are more); San Francisco Chinatown, their distinct pastries; our local Chinese market, sesame balls (ごま だんご/goma dango in Japanese), two in a package, right at the cash register! These days, I’ve learned to make them all myself, but, still like to keep the excitement of food association with my destinations.
You may have seen these sesame balls on Chinese restaurants’ dessert menus or in specialized dim sum restaurants as one of the items on the rotating carts. Crunchy toasted sesame, soft mochi texture, and sweet (yum) red-bean paste filling inside. Just pleasing all around!
♪
Sesame Balls
Recipe by: Fae’s Twist & Tango (fae-magazine.com)
INGREDIENTS
• 100 g/ 1/3 cup anko/sweet red-bean paste [1]
• 3 ~ 4 Tbsp white sesame seeds
• 85 g/ 2/3 cup mochiko/sweet rice flour (called sweet, there is no sugar in it)
• 4 tsp granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp water
• vegetable oil
[1] Anko may be substituted with sweet chestnut paste, sweet potato paste, etc. and nuts my be finely chopped and incorporated (half paste and half nuts).
DIRECTIONS
◊ Divide anko paste into 6 equal amounts. Dampen your hands and make 6 equal sized balls. Set aside.
◊ Have two small plates ready, one with some water in it and the other with sesame seeds. Have a medium sized plate ready, lined with folded paper towel (larger plate with 2 sheets if making more than 6 dumplings).
◊ In a medium bowl, add mochiko. Make a little well in the center and place the sugar in it. Add half of the water over sugar and with a silicone spatula, mix and dissolve sugar. Start incorporating mochiko a little at a time. Add little bit of water at a time and keep mixing until mochiko is moistened into a dough.
◊ Put a small amount of oil on your hands and pick up the dough. Roll it into a big ball, and then into a cylinder about 15cm/6″ long. Cut the cylinder into 6 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
◊ In your palm, flatten each mochi ball round with even thickness, large enough to put an anko ball in its center and wrap mochi around it. Very gently and patiently close the gaps and make an evenly shaped ball (see photos).
◊ One at a time, dampen the balls on the plate with water, and then coat them with sesame seeds. Gently press the balls and sesame together.
◊ In a medium sized saucepan, add vegetable oil 4cm/1½” deep. On medium-low, heat oil to 150°C/300°F (not very hot). Low heat will cook the mochi without burning the sesame seeds. Add the balls to oil, rotate them for even frying for 4 minutes. Increase the heat to high and fry until the sesames turn golden (< 1 minute). Scoop out the balls and place them on the plate lined with paper towel. Let the balls cool down as the center remains very hot to bite into.
◊ Crunchy nutty outside and soft and sweet inside! Enjoy!
~ 食福 / chiah hok – Eat well, enjoy good food! ~
Mochiko and anko are commonly found in your local Japanese/Asian markets.[2]
♪
So, what’s cooking in your kitchen?
♪
[2] If these products are not available at your local stores, here are options. Check for the best available prices at amazon.com (if delivery service available to your locality).
.
They look delicious! These are called Jin doi in Chinese. I am in love with your website and recipes! I’ve tried several of your recipes including Adas Polo and Sabzi Polo. Next up is Fesenjan this weekend.
I’m so happy to have found you…your recipes are perfect for me. I love the variety. I’m Chinese, have a Persian partner and grew up in Hawaii eating lot’s of Japanese food. I seem to find every recipe I”m looking for!
Hi Marion, Thank you for the visit and a lovely comment! We must have the same taste in food. I have blogged foods that are my favorites. I added the Chinese name of this delight to the title, thank you. If you like, ‘Like’ this blog’s FB fan page (you’ll find it at the bottom of the page) to know when I post new recipes. 🙂
These look delicious! I have never come across the red bean paste, is it really made from beans? So interesting that this is used in a sweet treat! I guess this makes for a guilt-free treat 🙂
Yes, there is such a thing as real red-bean-paste (and they are sweetened). Red-beans naturally have a little bit of natural sweetness. They were used to sweeten desserts in old Japan, before sugar was introduced to them. You are able to obtain it in Chinese or Japanese grocery stores if not at a regular supermarkets.
These are absolute favorite of mine. I wish I have some right now. 😀
Aren’t they wonderful! I wish we were close and I’d make some for you, Sweet Lady! 🙂
Beautiful sesame balls Fae, I don’t believe I’ve ever tried them before, but just looking at the ingredients, I feel I could eat a handful :). I hope things are well in your world.
Hi Loretta! Oh they are so addictive! Next time you go for a dim sum, give them a try. 🙂
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
Have never heard of these little morsels but they look good. Love the taste of sesame seeds.
Oh, they’re really good. Give them a try. 😀
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
Your Sesame Balls look so tempting, yummy! 🙂
Thank you, Linda! 🙂
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
I have several food / place associations as well and I think they’re lots of fun. Sesame balls are a must for me after after dim sum 🙂
Oh, you are my kind of Girl! 😀
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
These look delicious. Love your recipes! 🙂
Thank you Dee Marie! 🙂
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
I love sesame balls, my mom use to make them all the time, though I’ve not had them in awhile, so thanks for the reminder (in other words, I’m going to ask my mom to make them for me lol)
Hi Lily, They’re not difficult to make them. But I do know, Moms make them better. 😀
My apologies for the late response. I was travelling for 3 weeks.
These look so good. I”ve had them before and yours are just perfect. I’ve actually encountered something similar in Mexico that I”m searching for the ingredients to make sometime soon. They’re the best snack ever and even kind of good for you. Thanks for sharing!
Aren’t they good, Amanda? What are the Mexican ones called? Looking forward to your post. Yum! 🙂
I’ve never had these but they sound great and look so good! What a nice treat!
They really are, Nancy. Mmmm Mmmm Now that you know about them, you can look out for them. 🙂
They look so yummy! I have never had them! On my to try list! Thank you, Fae! ?
Oh, Francesca, you must try them, I know you would like them. Yum! 🙂
What a great surprise in the middle. 🙂
Hi Virginia, They are sweet soft texture, crispy sesame and chewy mochi to go with. 😀 )))
Always love this at Chinese Dim Sum. With this recipe, maybe I can try to make it by myself next time.
Of course you can! Only 3 ingredients + oil and water, voila! 🙂
You are so right Fae. We always associate a place first with its food. Sesame balls look very appealing.
Isn’t that interesting? 😀 ))) When I plan our international, or any travel, I think more about the food than the landmarks. 😀 )))
Fae these look so good, never had them before. Wish I lived closer to you so I could try all of your amazing cooking 🙂
I’m so glad you liked these sesame balls. I wish we lived close to each other too. I’ll cook for you, to your heart desire! 😀 )))
They look great!
Thank you, Merril! 🙂
That’s funny – after thinking about it I do associate food with some of my errands to different places. These look delicious Fae and would love to have one or two!
I wish I was able to deliver some to you. 🙂 We are so blessed to have access to varieties of cuisines, and have recreational food too. 😉
I love sesam balls. Everytime we go to the Asian market, we buy at least 10 sticks ( 3 sesame balls per stick. I ‘m definitely going to archive this. It looks easy to make. thank you for sharing, Ms. Fae.
Hello my sweet Ren! Not only are they easy to make, but also the anticipation of eating them is exciting! 😀 ))) Take photos for me when you make them. <3 🙂
wow fae! These look amazing….beautiful as always…
Hi Diana, They really are so delicious and fun in the mouth too! 😀 )))