Van's Kitchen: Sticky rice sweet dumplings

Sticky rice sweet dumpling (Chè trôi nước)

Watch how-to make Sticky rice sweet dumplings on Van's Kitchen Youtube

Blog in Vietnamese: Video cách làm chè trôi nước

A great dessert for gluten-free diets! Sticky rice sweet dumplings, aka "Chè trôi nước" in Vietnamese, is similar to Daifuku in Japanese cuisine, or Tangyuan in Chinese, but instead of red beans, we use mung bean. Like all types of rice and bean, sticky rice and mung beans don't contain dietary gluten. Isn't that great?

These mochi balls are nice to eat, but I know most people are afraid to work with the gooey, sticky mess of the mochi dough. So I decided to make the mochi dough by using food processor, and it worked out well! No more afraid of working with the gooey, sticky mess of the mochi dough!

Ingredients:

(makes 8 mochi balls)

Ginger syrup:

2 cups water

1 cup palm sugar(*), chopped into small pieces

3 inches fresh ginger knob

pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 cup (100 g) mung bean

1 cup (240 ml) water

1 tbsp deep fried shallot

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

Dough:

1/2 cup (100 g) glutinous rice (mochi rice flour)

2~4 oz hot water (160 F)

1/4 tsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp (15 g) roasted sesame seeds for garnish

tapioca flour for dusting

(*)You can substitute dark brown sugar, but the palm sugar gives a lighter taste without any aftertaste, and it’s more healthy as well.

Instructions:

To make the ginger syrup:

Chop the ginger then smash them with the flat side of the chef knife.

Add the sugar, water, pinch of salt and ginger into the saucepan. Set over medium heat. Stir and cook until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil.

When it boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes to infuse more ginger flavour and thicken the syrup a bit.

To prepare the filling:

Wash the mung bean well, and rinse until the water is clear. Add water and let the beans soak in the water for 30 minutes. Then set the rice cooker at a “softer” setting, and start cooking.

When the mung beans are cooked, transfer them into a bowl. While still hot, mash them finely into a puree. Add the salt, sugar and deep fried shallot. Mix well. Then use a small ice cream scoop, scoop the mashed mung beans and form them into round balls. Repeat with the rest of the mung beans to make 8 balls.

Prepare the dough:

Pour hot water into a bowl along with oil.

Place the mochi flour in a food processor. Add the hot liquid mixture in bit by bit. Process the food processor, some flour crumbs will result.

Add more hot water mixture in bit by a bit. Process again. You can feel that the dough is kinda wet and sticky. Don’t worry. Transfer into a bowl.

Cover and let the dough rest 15~30 minutes. This gives the flour time to soak into the water, and it becomes less sticky.

Sprinkle a little bit of tapioca flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Roll out the dough and stretch into 8-inch long strips. Cut the dough into 8 equal parts.

Always keep the dough covered so that it doesn’t get dry.

Dust the rolling pin with tapioca flour then flatten the mochi dough into a disk that is approximately twice as large as the mung bean ball.

Place a mung bean ball in the center and enclose with the entire filling. Don’t let any air in. Gently roll the dumpling between the palms of your hands until you have a smooth surface. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients.

Put a generous amount of water in a saucepan, and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Drop the mochi balls into boiling water. Give a stir so that they don’t stick to the bottom.

Cook until the balls float on the surface of the water. Leave them like that for a few minutes. Then transfer them into a bowl of cold tap water. Drain them and transfer to the ginger syrup.

Garnish with roasted sesame seeds before serving.

Best when served warm!

Blog in Vietnamese: Chè trôi nước