Sticky rice balls
March 30, 2012 • Category: Dessert
There is a substantial workforce of Filipinos in Lebanon; due to their presence, stores have popped up with a selection of Filipino products.
I love the Filipino ladies that I have encountered in Lebanon and learned a bit about their culture as well.
These rice balls are a twist on a traditional Filipino dessert, palitaw, consisting of sticky rice pancakes boiled and topped with coconut, sugar and toasted sesame seeds (served on a banana leaf, I am told).
Don’t be afraid of working with sticky rice flour; it is extremely easy to form these balls. Just place a mound of flour in a mixing bowl, add enough water to get a dough (similar to play-dough) and you are done; (you can also add some sugar or coconut to the dough itself).
These balls are filled with a small sugar cube or a chocolate chip (I used white chocolate). The balls cook in just minutes in simmering water and are then dipped in shredded coconut.
INGREDIENTS: Makes about 18
- 1 cup of sticky rice flour (at Asian stores)
- 3/4 cup of water (can replace with coconut milk)
- 1/2 cup of small sugar cubes or chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup of sweetened shredded coconut
- 3 drops of food color (per color desired) (optional)
- Place the sticky rice flour in the bowl of a mixer; add the water gradually, mixing continuously, until a firm dough forms. If the dough is too wet, add a bit more flour and if it is too stiff, add a bit more water but do so gradually, one tablespoon at a time. If you want to color the balls, drop a few drops of food color in the dough and mix until the color is even throughout. Form the dough into even-sized balls and fill each ball with a small sugar cube or a few chocolate chips. Place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.
- Bring 2 quarts of water to a simmer and drop the cake balls, only a few at a time. Cook until the balls rise up to the surface and remove with a spoon and drop in a bucket of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and dip into the shredded coconut and serve.
Comments
14 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
They look so cute and festive! Perfect for Easter. A delightful treat.
Cheers,
Rosa
On March 30, 2012 at 10:28 am
Chiara says:
A wonderful treat , perfect for Easter, thank you Joumana! have a good weekend…
On March 31, 2012 at 12:03 am
Jeannie says:
Wow! Your sticky rice balls look so pretty, we have something like this here too where we add palm sugar as the filling, delicious!
On March 31, 2012 at 12:47 am
Belinda @zomppa says:
These are so colorful and delightful! Reason enough to smile.
On March 31, 2012 at 8:51 am
Asmita says:
These look so cute and the best part is that they are so simple to make. Love it.
On March 31, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Lyndsey says:
These look great for Easter or spring, love the colors! I have used sticky rice flour before and want to use it again. I will try this soon.
On April 1, 2012 at 9:21 am
Tobias says:
Your sticky rice balls look just too adorable! Great choice of colours you have used! In my go-to Asian grocery store, they sell something similar filled with sort of a sweet peanut butter filling. Those are Vietnamese, though and alas, I don’t know what they are called. I knew about these, Japanese mochi and now about a Filipino variation. Thank you for that. 🙂
Cheers,
Tobias
On April 1, 2012 at 10:58 am
Banana Wonder says:
How beautiful! Where did you get those mati toothpicks? I want!
On April 1, 2012 at 10:40 pm
Joumana says:
@Banana Wonder: In Beirut at a store called Orient 499. They have a lot of beautiful things, overpriced, and these were in my price range!
On April 2, 2012 at 4:33 am
Cheah says:
These sticky rice balls look so cute and inviting. We have something like this here in Malaysia, prepared with a different filling, like palm sugar or red bean paste.
http://www.cheah2009.blogspot.com/2011/12/tong-yuen-in-red-bean-soup.html
On April 2, 2012 at 12:55 am
Oui, Chef says:
WOW…aren’t these colorful. They look like little fuzzy easter eggs!
On April 2, 2012 at 11:29 am
Magic of Spice says:
These are just adorable! I don’t think I have ever tried these before, but they look like spring 🙂
On April 3, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Laila says:
I made those very cute balls , they are really easy and fun to make. I am a bug fan of coconut milk. The first bite took me all the way to Bangkok.
On April 6, 2012 at 6:16 am
Joumana says:
@Laila: Glad you did! Making them with coconut milk was going to be my next attempt!
On April 6, 2012 at 7:52 am