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You are here: Home / All Recipes / Sesame Balls

Sesame Balls

They’re called jiandui in Chinese cuisine (matuan in the north, ma yuan in the northeast, and zhen dai in Hainan) — glutinous rice balls with lotus or bean paste filling that are rolled in sesame seeds and deep fried.

Sesame balls (jiandui) on plate

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.

Buchi (Filipino sesame balls) with cheese and ube halaya filling

Sam makes sesame balls with cheese filling. Alex makes them with ube halaya. 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.

Making rice balls with glutinous rice flour, sugar and water

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.

Rolling rice balls

The dough is rolled into balls and the balls are flattened at the center to make space for the filling.

Filling rice balls with cheese cubes

A cube of cheese goes into the center of each ball of dough. The dough is gathered to enfold and enclose the cheese.

Rolling sticky 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.

Sesame rice balls with cheese filling

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

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
The recipe below is for sesame balls with cheese filling. Check the notes after the recipe for instructions on how to use ube halaya for the filling.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 20 mins
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Chinese-Filipino
Servings 12 sesame balls
Sesame balls (buchi) with cheese filling
Print Recipe

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 seed balls over high heat until the crust is crisp and golden brown.
  • Serve the sesame seed balls while hot.

Notes

Based on a recipe by Karen Joy Perez Castro.
If you want to use ube halaya for the filling, roll the ube halaya into one-inch balls, arrange on a tray and chill in the freezer for half an hour before stuffing into the rice balls. This will make it easier to handle them when stuffing the rice balls. It will also prevent the filling from softening too much during frying.
Updated from two recipes published in April 15, 2020 and July 15, 2020.
Keyword Glutinous rice balls
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Published: January 23, 2022 • Last modified: January 23, 2022 ♥ All Recipes, Chinese, Filipino, Fusion, Snacks, Sweets
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