These Vegan Chinese Sesame Balls are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are made with less than 10-ingredients, and makes for the perfect snack to have and share with everyone.

These sesame balls are made with glutinous rice flour and can be filled with lotus seed paste, red bean paste or you can make them without any fillings which I chose to do today. Every Lunar New Year, my mom would make dozens of them to be shared with my grandmother, aunts and uncles. They are one of the traditional recipes to have in celebration for the new year.
The little me only wanted all the candy from the candy box and didn’t appreciate them before. As I was making these sesame balls, the smell of the sesame seeds frying and getting toasted makes the sesame balls even more appealing. They are not overly sweet, but crispy, chewy and soft on the inside.
Normally, my mom would have a large table filled with different dishes, sweets and New Year displays. The house would be decorated in red and gold, music playing in the background, and the smell of incense will fill every room. If my dad had to work, my mom, siblings and I would wait for one of my uncles to come with my grandmother so that we could all go to the temples together. Everywhere we go, sesame balls will be seen in all the places we visit.
If you are short on time and looking for something delicious to make to bring to your family members, let’s start cooking!
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Vegan Chinese Sesame Balls (Jin Dui)
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Prep Time: 15 minutes
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Cook Time: 12 minutes
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Total Time: 27 minutes
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Yield: 10
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Category: Sweets
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Method: Cooking
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Cuisine: Chinese
Description
These Vegan Chinese Sesame Balls are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They are made with 6 ingredients only and make for the perfect snack to have and share with everyone.
Ingredients
-2 cups (180g) glutinous rice flour (I used this brand),
-120 mL (½ cup + 1 tbsp) water, boiled
-½ tsp baking powder
-¼ cup (50g) organic sugar
-¾ cup (100g) sesame seeds
-pinch of salt
-oil for frying
Instructions
- Soak the sesame seeds in warm water for 10 minutes, set aside.
- Add the rice flour, baking powder, sugar and salt to a large bowl. Mix well.
- Slowly add in the hot water, mixing until a dough forms. Knead until smooth. Cover in a bowl with a damp towel.
- Drain the water in the sesame seeds’ bowl. Set aside.
- Dust a cleaned surface with some glutinous rice flour. Roll the dough out into a log. Divide into about 20g (if you want them to be larger, adjust accordingly) sized dough. Roll each dough into a ball.
- Roll each dough into the soaked sesame seeds. Lightly press the sesame seeds into the dough so they will stick together. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Add some oil to a frying pan. Heat over medium temperature until it reaches about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. You can also test by dropping a few sesame seeds onto the pan. If it sizzles, the oil is ready.
- Carefully drop the sesame balls into the oil. Allow it to cook for about 5-6 minutes, or until golden in color. If the sesame seeds start burning too early, lower the temperature for the next batch as the oil may be too hot.
- Allow them to cool before serving. Enjoy!
Keywords: chinese new year, new year, lunar new year, chinese desserts, chinese snacks
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