Sesame Balls are one of those recipes that seem intimidating but are actually quite simple once you figure it out. I've had issues with my sesame balls bursting in the past, but now I realize how to cook them properly. The secrets are frying at an extremely low temperature, having the proper flour-to-water ratio, and dissolving your sugar in boiling water.
When I was a kid, my family used to always order the sesame balls at dim sum. My favorite pastime was watching the carts come out of the kitchen and exclaiming to my parents when I saw they were coming. The two most popular fillings are red bean and black sesame. Red bean is my mom's favorite, but my dad only likes the black sesame ones.
The best part of sesame balls is their texture. They have a crispy and chewy outer shell combined with a hollow inside. The sesame balls are deep-fried at an extremely low temperature so that they puff up slowly and gently. Once they are puffed, the temperature is increased, and they are cooked until super crispy.
Flour to water ratio
While developing this recipe, I experimented with a few different ratios of flour to water, but I ultimately settled on a 3 to 1 ratio. I found dryer doughs were extremely difficult to wrap (they would constantly crack), and slightly wetter doughs would be more prone to bursting. My guess is that the extra moisture causes more steam/pressure to build up inside, which causes the sesame balls to burst.
Should you boil the water?
The only reason I recommend boiling the water is so that the sugar can be dissolved before forming the dough. This will make the dough more uniform. My theory is that sesame balls are more prone to bursting when the dough is not uniform or has weak spots. If there's a weak spot, the pressure will quickly burst through it. But if the dough is more uniform, the collective strength of the dough will be stronger.
Best frying temperature
I recommend frying at a very low temperature around 250-265℉. This will ensure the sesame balls puff up gently and slowly and allow time for the outer crust to strengthen. If the pressure inside the sesame ball builds up too fast, the shell will crack open. It's a very similar concept to baking cakes when your cake cracks if the temperature is too high. You want to bring up the pressure in the sesame ball slowly.
Sesame Balls
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sugar (40g)
- ⅓ cup cold water (80g)
- 1 cup glutinous rice flour (110g)
- ¼ cup red bean paste
- ¼ cup raw sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan. Heat it over high heat and whisk constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the water is boiling.
- In a medium bowl, add the glutinous rice flour. Pour in the water and mix until a smooth dough forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Divide the dough and red bean paste into 6 equal portions each. For the dough, I took the total weight of the dough and divided by 6.
- Take a piece of dough and use your thumb to make a small well in the center. Put the piece of red bean in the well.
- Enclose the filling then roll the ball between your palms to form a smooth ball.
- Place the ball in a shallow dish of sesame seeds and roll until evenly coated. Set aside and repeat with the remaining dough.
- Heat 2 inches of oil to 265°F in a large pot over medium heat. Gently lower the sesame balls into the oil; the oil temperature should decrease to 250°F. Try to maintain a temperature between 250-265℉.
- From 0-6 minutes, the sesame balls will sit at the bottom of the oil. You can just let them cook undisturbed. But usually, at 3 minutes, I will flip them over so they cook a bit more evenly.
- From 6-10 minutes, the sesame balls will begin to float. During this time, use a metal spider to constantly move and rotate them around the oil.
- At the 10-minute mark, increase the heat to medium-high and continue frying the balls for 5 minutes, moving and rotating them constantly until they develop a golden brown color. You can use your metal spider to gently push them into the oil; this will make them puff up slightly more.
- Remove the sesame balls to a wire rack to drain excess oil. Enjoy!
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