Sweet Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Black Sesame Filling with Step-by-Step Photos and Video 黑芝麻湯圓 (Tang Yuan)
Tender and chewy glutinous rice dough encasing a rich, oozy sweet black sesame filling served in a light ginger broth, these SWEET GLUTINOUS RICE DUMPLINGS WITH BLACK SESAME FILLING (黑芝麻湯圓) are heaven in every bite! This popular classic firmly ranks in the top three best Chinese desserts for me. Glutinous rice dumplings or glutinous rice balls (Tang Yuan) are an auspicious dessert for Lantern Festival, Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year because they symbolize family unity and togetherness. But honestly, these are a treat to eat all year round.
Before you begin, be sure to read through all my RECIPE NOTES AND TIPS below. I write these to help you succeed! There are STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS to clearly show the process of forming the dumplings and also a VIDEO TUTORIAL showing the whole process including making the filling and dough, and rolling the dumplings. Don’t be intimated - you’ll get the hang of it with my tips, photo/video guidance and a little practice.
WHY MAKE SWEET GLUTINOUS RICE DUMPLINGS WITH BLACK SESAME FILLING? It’s true that they can be purchased from the freezer section of most any Chinese grocery store. But if you look at the ingredients of commercially sold dumplings, there are always additives, not to mention cheap refined oil instead of butter (or lard from the OG traditional ways). Homemade tang yuan need only 4 ingredients: glutinous rice flour, black sesame seeds, sugar, butter. (Plus water.) That’s why I’m not a big fan of store-bought tang yuan 🥲
The sweetened ginger broth is our favourite way to eat these dumplings and that’s why I include it in this post. The mildly-sweet, gingery water not only compliments the black sesame filling in flavour, it imparts comforting warmth and earthiness. So soul-soothing on a cold wintry night! Or for a quickie treat, you can just eat them from a bowl of the hot cooking water.
Let me know what you think of this recipe in comments below. And of course tag me on IG if you make them. Either way, I’d love to hear from you.
Eat well and be well X
RECIPE head NOTES - black sesame dumplings (tang yuan):
1. Dairy free / plant-based version – substitute an equal amount of vegan butter or coconut oil in the place of butter. Note that using coconut oil will obviously impart a coconut-y flavour in the filling that’s not traditional but delicious in a different way if you love that flavour.
2. Use caster sugar – also called superfine sugar, helps create a super smooth and oozy filling. Buy it or make your own with regular granulated sugar in a food processor or blender, pulsing it until it resembles fine grains of sand.
3. Maximizing flavour – because the filling is essentially 3 ingredients (excluding water and salt), each ingredient must shine:
a. Toast the black sesame seeds: spending the 5 minutes to dry-toast the black sesame seeds enhance their nutty flavour and fragrance. Don’t skip it!
b. Quality butter: using the best quality butter you can get will obviously impart a better, richer flavour.
c. Super fine sugar: as mentioned, using superfine caster sugar helps achieve the ideal flow-y filling.
4. Equipment for grinding sesame seeds – it’s important to get a fine grind of the sesame seeds to achieve the desired molten, flowing filling when you bite into a dumpling! You have options:
a. Small (“mini”) food processor or blender with a strong motor. My 900W Nutribullet personal blender for example, does a great job. My 400W mini food processor produces coarser grind for sure.
b. Full-sized food processor or blender. The full sized machines have a lot of power to grind well. That said, the 1-cup of black sesame seeds is not quite enough volume to grind super well in a large blender like my Vitamix. An easy workaround is to double the filling recipe! Extra filling can be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks or formed into balls and kept frozen for next time – your future self will thank you.
c. Spice / coffee bean grinder. If you don’t go with options a or b above, another possible option is an electric spice / coffee bean grinder which is amazing for pulverizing the black sesame seeds (in batches as needed). Once you have the consistency of slightly damp, fine sand, transfer into a blender / food processor to continue with the recipe. Or just transfer into a bowl and vigorously mix the caster sugar, butter (melted would be easiest), and hot water by hand if you choose a good arm workout over washing an appliance!
5. Freezing black sesame balls – some recipes don’t do this step. They scoop filling directly into dough and form the dumpling. In my experience, this gets very messy, very quick. Taking the time to roll the filling into balls and freezing them the full hour (or overnight if more convenient) makes it SO much easier in the subsequent steps. Trust.
6. Tip for making the dough – as with any dough recipe, the exact amount of water needed depends on humidity, variability in measuring the flour, etc. Always start with less water and add sprinkles more until you get a smooth, pliable dough. Keep dough well covered with plastic wrap throughout the process to prevent drying out while cutting / rolling dumplings, etc. After resting the 20 minutes, I recommend using the dough pretty promptly. I’ve left the dough (well-wrapped in plastic) for a few hours and it becomes significantly wetter. If that does happen, simply knead in more glutinous rice flour until the dough feels soft but not at all sticky.
7. Forming dumplings – make sure to look at my STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS and my VIDEO for visual guidance. I made sure to include them to help you.
8. Freezing dumplings – once formed, dumplings can be frozen for another day. Arrange in a single layer, not touching, on parchment-lined tray. Freeze for an hour or until very firm, but not so long that they start to crack. Transfer to a ziptop bag with the air pushed out and store for 3-4 weeks. Cook from frozen exactly the same way as cooking fresh – it will simply take longer for the dumplings to float to the surface.
Step-By-Step Photo Guide showing how to form a dumpling:
Flatten a piece of dough with fingers into approximately 2” disc. Dimple the centre slightly with thumb. Place filling ball in the centre. Use the thumb and index finger of the other hand to form an “okay” sign to gently nudge and push the dough up and around the filling, closing it completely at the top. Check and patch any holes where the filling is showing through. Roll between your palms to create a smooth and round dumpling. Tip: as you’re working, keep your dough well-covered with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Mine became a bit dry around the edges as I was shooting these images during a deep winter freeze with incredibly low humidity at the moment - it rolls out fine but dry dough is more susceptible to cracking and leaking when cooked, so take heed.
And there you have it! { Tip: Drape a kitchen towel over the finished dumplings while you work. Once they are done, cook or freeze right away. Leaving them out too long on the counter may result in cracks in the dough, which will lead to breakage and leakage during cooking. See Recipe Notes and Tips re: freezing. }
SWEET GLUTINOUS RICE DUMPLINGS WITH BLACK SESAME FILLING (黑芝麻湯圓) (Tang Yuan) with Step-by-Step Photos and Video
Recipe makes 22-24 dumplings. See instructions for freezing dumplings in the notes.
INGREDIENTS
For the filling:
75g (1/2 C) black sesame seeds
115g (about 1/2 C) caster sugar aka superfine sugar
70g (5 Tbsp) salted butter or unsalted butter with a pinch sea salt, room temperature
15ml (1 Tbsp) hot water
For the glutinous rice dough:
170g (1 C) glutinous rice flour aka sweet rice flour (not rice flour)
160ml (2/3 C) warm water
Ginger broth for serving:
715ml (3 C) water
50g ginger slices, from approx 2”x 3” knob
50g (4 Tbsp) dark brown sugar, Chinese yellow rock sugar or black sugar
METHOD
Toast and cool black sesame seeds: Dry-toast black sesame seeds in a skillet over medium-low heat. No oil is needed. Simply stir them around for 5 minutes or until nutty and fragrant, being careful not to scorch them. Transfer to a bowl to cool fully.
Make black sesame filling and roll into balls: In a small blender or a small food processor (or spice grinder – see note), pulse toasted sesame seeds until pulverized into the consistency of slightly damp sand. If a spice grinder was used, transfer into food processor or blender now. To the black sesame, add sugar and pulse repeatedly until well mixed. Add butter (along with a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter) and pulse again to combine. Add hot water and pulse repeatedly until mixture is homogenous. Scrape into a bowl. Place bowl in freezer for 15 minutes or until firm yet still soft enough to scoop out and roll into 10g balls (~2 tsp each). Place rolled balls on parchment-lined tray and freeze for 1 hour up to overnight. This step ensures the filling is very firm and much easier (and less messy!) to handle when forming the dumplings later.
Make the dough and rest 20 minutes: While filling balls chill, make the dough. Place glutinous rice flour in a bowl set over a wet towel to keep it from moving around. While streaming in the water, mix with the other hand to evenly incorporate. Once mixture begins to pull into a dough, use your hand to knead it into a smooth, pliable dough that is easy to handle but not at all sticky/wet or dry/crumbly. If dough is too wet, add more glutinous rice flour. If too dry, add sprinkles more water until it achieves the right consistency. The dough should feel almost like really fresh, soft playdoh. The great thing about glutinous rice flour is, in spite of its name, it does not contain gluten which means you can never “overhandle” the dough. Keep working it until it feels right. Cover well to prevent drying out. Rest 20 minutes. [Tip: as with any dough recipe, the exact amount of water needed depends on humidity, variability in measuring the flour, etc. Always start with less water and add sprinkles more until you get a smooth, pliable dough. Keep dough well covered with plastic wrap throughout the process to prevent drying out while cutting / rolling dumplings, etc. After resting the 20 minutes, I recommend using the dough pretty promptly. I’ve left the dough (well-wrapped in plastic) for a few hours and it becomes significantly wetter. If that does happen, simply knead in more glutinous rice flour until the dough feels soft but not at all sticky.]
Make ginger broth: Meanwhile, add water into a pot and bring it to a boil. Add ginger slices. Simmer 20 minutes. Add dark brown sugar (or yellow rock sugar or black sugar if using) and simmer until dissolved. Taste and add more as needed. The broth should be mildly sweet to compliment the sweet glutinous dumplings. Discard ginger slices. Set aside and keep warm. Ready a second pot of water to boil the dumplings.
Roll dough into ropes and cut into portions: When dough has rested, roll into 1” rope and cut into 12g pieces. It should make 22-24 pieces. Cover unused dough pieces well with plastic wrap or kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
Form dumplings (also see step-by-step photos and video in the blog post): To form a dumpling, use your thumb to press a deep dimple in the center of the dough ball. Place filling ball inside dimple. While holding the filling ball in place with a thumb, use the thumb and index finger of the other hand (in the shape as if making the “okay” hand sign) to bring the dough up and around the filling ball, nudging and stretching gently up and around to fully seal at the top. Check for any holes where filling is showing through and push dough over to cover. Use palms to roll the dumpling smooth and round. Set finished dumplings on a clean, parchment-lined tray. Drape a kitchen towel over the finished dumplings while you work. Once they are done, cook or freeze right away. Leaving them out too long on the counter may result in cracks in the dough, which will lead to breakage and leakage during cooking. See Recipe Notes and tips for freezing. Avoid blemishing white dough with the fingers that touched black filling ball. It’s ideal to maintain the snowy white exterior.
Boil dumplings when ready to eat: To cook, bring the pot of water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon or long-handled colander, gently lower dumplings into the water. Adjust the temperature to maintain a constant boil (but not an aggressive boil) as we want to allow them to cook through and the sugar in the filling to dissolve well. Stir gently to prevent sticking. Once dumplings float to the top, cook 20 seconds more. Serve in warm ginger broth.
Enjoy!
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