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Rice & grains Snacks

Sesame cheese balls

Published: 04.15.2020 » Last updated: 11.01.2022

Balls of dough made with glutinous (sticky) rice flour, sugar and water are stuffed with cheese, rolled in sesame seeds and deep fried until golden.

They’re called jiandui in Chinese cuisine (matuan in the north, ma yuan in the northeast, and zhen dai in Hainan). My love affair with this Chinese pastry goes back all the way to my childhood and it has never waned over the years. What has changed is how I consume these sticky rice balls today.

Because my daughters have become so adept at making them, I don’t need to wait for an opportunity to go and eat at a dim sum place. I just have to ask one of them to cook a batch. And when they do, there are no strict rules as to what can go inside the rice balls.

Sesame balls with cheese and ube (purple yam) filling

Sam makes sesame balls with cheese filling. Alex makes them with ube halaya (purple yam jam). Both versions are delicious.

Is it difficult to cook sesame balls at home? No. But you have to use the correct ingredients. These are screenshots from an old video that Sam took the last time she cooked sesame balls with cheese filling.

Forming balls with glutinous rice flour

Glutinous rice flour is a must. Wheat flour or ordinary rice flour won’t work. You just mix the flour with water and sugar to make a dough.

Pressing the center of a glutinous rice ball

The dough is rolled into balls and the balls are flattened at the center to make space for the filling. No special tool needed. Your finger will do.

Filling glutinous rice ball with cheese cube

A cube of cheese goes into the center of each ball of dough. The edges of the dough and pinched to fully enclose the cheese.

Rolling cheese-stuffed glutinous rice balls in sesame seeds before deep frying

The cheese-filled glutinous rice balls are rolled in sesame seeds then deep fried until the crust is golden and crisp.

Gooey cheese inside sesame ball

And… will you look at that? Just perfect! And I have to say that the sweet rice and salty cheese do go together beautifully.

Sesame balls

Connie Veneracion
A tweak of Chinese sesame balls, cubes of cheese replace the traditional sweet lotus or red bean filling. The cheese softens during frying and is perfectly gooey when the sesame seed-encrusted sticky rice balls are served.
Print Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Total Time 20 minutes mins
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Chinese Filipino
Servings 12 sesame balls

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups glutinous rice flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar - use more for a sweeter dough
  • 12 one-inch cube cheese
  • ½ cup sesame seeds
  • cooking oil - for deep frying

Instructions
 

  • Dump the glutinous rice flour and sugar into a bowl. Mix in just enough water to allow the mixture to come together into a ball.
  • Using a small ice cream scoop, divide the dough into 12 portions.
  • Roll each portion between the palm of your hands to form small balls.
  • Arrange the balls on your work surface and, using your index finger, press the center of each ball to create an indentation.
  • Drop a cube of cheese at the center of each ball.
  • Gather each ball to enclose the cheese filling.
  • Roll the balls in sesame seeds to completely cover the surface.
  • Heat enough cooking oil to reach a depth of at least three inches.
  • Fry the sesame cheese balls over high heat until the crust is crisp and golden brown.
  • Serve the sesame cheese seed balls while hot.

Notes

Based on a recipe by Karen Joy Perez Castro.
Print Pin Recipe
Keyword Glutinous rice balls

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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