Fried Nian Gao Sesame Balls 炸年糕芝麻球

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Instructions

 

Preparing Dough:

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  First skin and cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces. Place in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes until soft. Remove from heat and mash sweet potatoes with a potato masher. Set aside to allow it to cool.
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  Place the mashed sweet potato in a large mixing bowl. When it is cool enough to handle, mix in sifted glutinous rice flour and baking soda. Then add in 100ml of boiling water. Using a spatula or spoon, stir to mix well.

  Next add in sugar and mix everything together. Then using your hand, knead the flour mixture into a smooth dough. Cover and set aside while we prepare the filling.

Preparing Filling:

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  Remove banana leaves from Nian gao (rice cake). Cut the Nian gao into ½ inch cubes.

Making Nian gao Sesame Balls:

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  To make the sesame balls, first roll the dough into a long strip and divide into 16 equal pieces. Roll each small dough into a ball. Then using your index finger make a hole in the centre of the ball and shape it into a small little bowl.

  Place a cube of Nian gao in the middle and wrap dough around the rice cake filling and pinch to seal. Roll the dough ball between your two palms to form a smooth round ball. Repeat with the rest of the cut dough.
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  Then prepare a bowl of water and a plate of sesame seeds.
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  Dip each sesame ball into a small bowl of water (shake off excess water) and then put in the plate filled with sesame seeds and coat it. (use a different hand for each action so you don't get messy sesame seeds-covered fingers).

  After coating with the sesame seeds, roll each ball firmly between the palms of your hands to make sure the sesame seeds stick very well to the surface of the balls.
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  Repeat for all the other dough balls. And we are ready to deep fry the sesame balls.

Deep Frying Sesame Balls:

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  Before deep frying, be sure to roll again the sesame balls to make sure that the sesame seeds will stick well on the surface of the balls.
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  Deep fry the sesame balls in batches. To deep fry, first pour in a generous amount of oil in the pot and heat using LOW heat. The oil is ready when you see small bubbles start to appear around a pair of chopsticks inserted in the centre of the pot.

  Gently place the sesame balls into the oil and cook gently. Keep the heat at LOW.
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  STAGE 1: Fry the sesame balls on low heat for 3-5 minutes.

  The sesame balls should stay at the bottom of the pot. Move the sesame balls around gently with a pair of chopsticks so that they do not get stuck on the bottom of the pot. During this stage, the sesame balls will get cooked slowly from the inside. Fry till the sesame balls float up.
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  Stage 2: Continue to fry the sesame balls on low heat for 6-8 minutes.

  Now use the bottom of a ladle to move the sesame balls around the pot. When all the sesame balls are completely floated, continue to rotate and press down on the balls with the ladle when moving the sesame balls around.

  During this stage, the sesame balls will grow bigger with the pressing on the balls and stay in a round shape with the circular movement with the ladle.
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  Stage 3: Fry on medium high heat for 3-5 minutes for the sesame balls to crisp up.

  Increase heat to medium high and let the oil get heated up. Continue to move the sesame balls around. During this stage, we want the sesame balls to crisp up on the outside and turn golden brown in colour. Keep rotating the balls gently and make sure all the sides get fried and crisp up.
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  When all have turned golden brown, take one out and carefully touch it and it should feel solid. This means a crust has formed and its time to remove from the pot. Remove with a strainer and drained on paper towel.
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  Serve warm or at room temperature with hot chinese tea and enjoy!