Jian Dui

The hollow golden globe of the dim sum trolley: glutinous rice dough wrapped around sweet lotus or red bean paste, rolled in a dense coat of white sesame seeds, and fried slowly so it swells into a crisp, light, chewy ball, crackling with toasted sesame on the outside and almost weightless within

Origin: China (Guangdong)

From the journey of Sesame.

Jian dui (known in Cantonese as jin deui, and as matuan in the north) are amongst the oldest of Chinese fried sweets, said to date back to the Tang dynasty, when a version was eaten in the imperial capital of Chang'an. They are a fixture of the southern dim sum table and of New Year, when their round, gold, expanding shape is read as a wish for a swelling fortune and a full house. The whole outside of the ball is pressed thickly with white sesame, which toasts in the oil to a fragrant, crackling crust, whilst the glutinous rice dough puffs into a hollow, chewy shell around a sweet filling of lotus seed or red bean paste. Sesame came to China on the Silk Road and lodged deep in the kitchen as both seed and oil; here the seed is the whole surface of the sweet, and getting it to stick evenly, and frying low and patient so the ball expands without bursting, is the test of the cook.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 200 g glutinous rice flour
  • 40 g caster sugar
  • 60 ml boiling water
  • 110 ml cold water, plus more as needed

Filling

  • 180 g sweet red bean paste or lotus seed paste, rolled into 12 small balls

Coating

  • 120 g white sesame seeds (untoasted)

Frying

  • 1 litre neutral oil, for deep-frying

Method

  1. Put the glutinous rice flour and sugar in a bowl. Stir the sugar into the boiling water to dissolve, then pour it over the flour and mix with chopsticks. Add the cold water gradually, mixing and then kneading to a smooth, soft, pliable dough; add a little more water or flour as needed.
  2. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and keep them covered. Take one, roll into a ball, then flatten and cup it in your palm. Place a ball of filling in the centre and gather the dough up over it, pinching firmly to seal, then roll smooth. Repeat.
  3. Spread the sesame seeds in a shallow bowl. Lightly dampen each ball by rolling it between wet palms, then roll it in the sesame seeds, pressing firmly all over so they adhere in a dense, even coat. Roll once more between your palms to set the seeds.
  4. Heat the oil in a deep pan to 150°C, a low frying temperature. Lower in the balls a few at a time and fry gently, keeping the heat moderate.
  5. As they cook, press each ball gently against the side of the pan with the back of a slotted spoon and release; this encourages them to expand and turn hollow. Fry for 10 to 12 minutes, turning, until pale gold and noticeably swollen.
  6. Raise the heat a little for the last minute to deepen the colour to golden brown, then lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Leave to cool for a few minutes before eating, as the filling is very hot.

Notes

Jian dui do not keep well; the shell loses its crispness within a few hours, so they are best eaten the day they are fried. They can be made with no filling at all (popular in the north as matuan), in which case the hollow is the whole point. Sweet lotus seed paste gives the most refined version, red bean the most common. The dough is unforgiving of haste in the fryer, so do not rush the low, slow stage where the ball swells.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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