Bánh Trôi Nước

Bánh Trôi Nước is a vietnamese dumpling dish that is mainly glutinous rice flour balls with some sugar syrup topped with toasted sesame seeds. Other variation of this dish exists all over Asia under different names, different toppings, and fillings but for now I decided to make the one with the palm sugar syrup as it calls for an ingredient which incidentally, I already have. Now I didn't think I made a great job with this as it was my first time, I didn't achieve the texture that I want. Maybe it was really supposed to be boiled (I steamed it cause I chickened at the last minute fearing that it would break apart during the boiling process). But that aside, it still tastes the way it should be. Next time, I will face my fear and boil these little balls, you guys, boil it okay? ;)

Palm Sugar Dumplings

By Claire A. Suarez
Bánh Trôi Nu?c. A Vietnamese chewy glutinous rice flour balls filled with palm sugar syrup topped with toasted sesame seeds.

Prep time: 00:15, Cook time: 00:15, Total time: 00:30
Yield: 5 servings (6 balls per serving)

Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour
3/4 cup water
Palm sugar
toasted sesame seeds
water for boiling
Instructions:

In a bowl, mix together glutinous rice flour with enough water. It should resemble a dough-like consistency and not sticky.

Roll out the dough into tiny balls. It should yield about 25-30 balls.

Flatten each balls into a disc shape, place some palm sugar at the center (depending on how much filling you want), seal it and gently shape it into balls again.

In a pot of boiling water, drop the balls one at a time. when they start to float, it means they're cooked.

Sprinkle the balls with some toasted sesame seeds and serve! :)

Calories per serving: 165 calories
Fat per serving: 0.88grams

Mochi

Mochi is a kind of dumpling made with mochiko flour, some kind of filling and powdered with cornstarch. As I was on research mode for this Japanese confecionary, I found out that they steam the mochiko flour first for a couple of minutes, lay it on a tray dusted with cornstarch, then shaped into a ball with the filling. It feels a bit tricky for me working with that very sticky dough so I decided to make some more research and finally found a more convenient way for me to have my beloved mochi.

It was a lazy afternoon and I was planning to make my mochi since yesterday and I already made my red bean paste. Instead of following the Japanese way of making mochi, I decided to make it in a palitaw way, or just like when I made my bilo-bilo for my ginataang halo-halo, by boiling it until it floats, that way, I would know that it is really ready. Here's how: :)

Ingredients:

1 cup glutinous rice flour

3/4 cup water (or more depending on the quality of the flour)

3/4 cup red bean paste filling

cornstarch for dusting

OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (if you want your mochi to be a little sweeter)

Instructions:

1. Combine the glutinous rice flour and water in a bowl until a soft, dough-like consistency is achieved and form into small balls (about 15 pcs).

2. Shape the red bean paste into small balls (smaller than the glutinous rice balls)

3. Flatten the dough into a circle shape with the palm of your hands and fingers and wrap it around the red bean balls, then gently shape it into balls.

4. In a pot of boiling water, drop the mochi balls one at a time gently and boil for about 10minutes, if the mochi balls starts to float, they're cooked!

5. Drain as much water as you can from the mochi balls then roll them in cornstarch, serve! :)