Pistachio Glutinous Rice Balls 開心果糯米糍
Servings 9 rice balls
Ingredients
Pistachio Filling:
- 100 grams raw pistachios (shelled & unsalted)
- 45 grams sugar
Coating Flour:
- 50 grams glutinous rice flour
Glutinous Rice Dough:
- 120 grams glutinous rice flour
- 18 grams cornstarch
- 15 grams vegetable oil (plus more for coating)
- 170 grams water
Instructions
- For the pistachios, if you prefer a more green pistachio filling, it’s better to remove the skin. If you don’t mind the brown specks, skip step 2 & 3.
- Fill a medium bowl with ice and water. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan filled 2-inch water, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the pistachio and blanch for 30 seconds. Transfer to the ice bath and soak for 30 seconds. Drain. Transfer the pistachios to a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel to cover the pistachios. Rub and roll to remove the skin. Some skins will fall off from the pistachios. But for the rest, rub the pistachios with fingers to remove the skins.
- Preheat oven to 250˚F (130˚C). Place the pistachios on a baking sheet. Spread them out in a single layer and roast in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes. For blanched pistachios, roast for about 30 minutes. For skin on pistachios, roast for about 20 minutes. When you start smelling the pistachios, they are likely done. Remove from oven. Set aside to cool completely, about 1 hour.
- For the coating flour, in a medium nonstick pan over medium heat, without adding any oil, add 50 grams glutinous rice flour. Stir with a spatula and toast until lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large plate to cool completely.
- In a large pot or wok (with lid), put in the steaming rack and add water that reaches 1-inch below the top of the rack. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat.
- For the dough, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together glutinous rice flour and cornstarch. Add vegetable oil and water. Whisk until smooth.
- Pick a medium bowl or deep plate that can be steamed and fit in the wok. Lightly wipe the inside of the bowl with vegetable oil. Transfer the batter into the bowl.
- Transfer the bowl on top of the steaming rack. Cover the wok with a lid and steam for 12 minutes. To see if the dough is cooked though, poke into the center with a chopstick. If you don’t see any flour in the dough, it’s ready. Carefully remove the bowl and place on a mat.
- Coat a stiff spatula with a thin layer of vegetable oil. While the dough is still hot, stir and fold the dough for about 4 minutes. That will stretch the dough and give the dough a more elastic texture. Cover with a plastic wrap and set aside to cool until still warm, but just cool enough to handle.
- Meanwhile, in a food processor or nut grinder, work in batches, add the cooled pistachios, do a few brief pulses and turn into fine powder. Make sure not to over do it. If the pistachios are getting warm, they may start to release oil. That cannot be fixed.
- Transfer the pistachio powder to medium bowl. Add sugar and stir well. That is the filling.
- Prepare 9 cupcake liners and set aside.
- Put on food safe plastic gloves. Divide the dough into 9 portions. Each portion should weight about 34 grams. Roll them into a ball. Place them on the coating flour and coat on all sides.
- Place one ball on one hand. Press and stretch into a thin pancake. Fill the pancake with pistachio filling. Start on one side, pinch the edges together with your fingers to seal one side. The dough now looks like a shoe, with one part seal and one part open. With your thumb, press the filling down in the hole and add some more filling. Repeat this a couple more times until you can’t add any more. Seal the rice ball completely by pinching together a few times. Roll the ball on the coating flour and place on a cupcake liner. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Enjoy these right away or on the same day. If not serving them right away, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
- Removing the skins of pistachios is time consuming. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to do. If you don’t want to spend that much time, keep the skins.
- Pistachios can be roast in the oven or on the stove. If doing on the stove, use a nonstick pan and cook over medium heat. It will take about 5 - 7 minutes, stirring frequently.
- If you don’t have a food processor or nut grinder, put the pistachios in a ziploc bag and seal. Crush with a rolling pin or pan until desired size. The pistachios will not be as fine, but still useable.
- Glutinous rice flour is not the same as rice flour. Glutinous rice flour creates a chewy dough, but rice flour dough doesn't do that.
- When making the glutinous rice balls, you will need to use gloves. That will prevent the dough from sticking to your hands. Make sure the gloves are food safe, so they can be used to in cooking.
- These glutinous rice balls are best to enjoy the same day. As time goes by, the dough will loose it softness and start to dry out and get harder.
- Leftover pistacho filling can be stored in an airtight container for a few days. Use them in other desserts, like ice cream or panna cotta.
- There're many glutinous rice ball varieties, like peanut, sesame seed or even fruit. The dough is the same, but just with different fillings.