San Da Pao

Ingredients

• 300g glutinous rice
• 60ml hot water
• 100g roasted soybean flour (kinako) or toasted soy flour
• 150g dark brown sugar or Chinese brown sugar slab
• 150ml water, for the syrup
• 1 small piece ginger, sliced
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• pinch of salt

Before you cook

• Rinse the glutinous rice and soak it in cold water for at least four hours, or overnight
• Drain the rice thoroughly and line a steamer with muslin
• Toast the soybean flour in a dry pan over low heat for four minutes until it smells nutty, then cool it
• Spread the toasted flour over a wide tray

Steps

1. Spread the drained rice over the lined steamer and steam it over boiling water for thirty minutes, until every grain is translucent and soft.
2. Tip the hot rice into a large sturdy bowl.
3. Pound the rice with the end of a rolling pin, adding the hot water a little at a time, until the grains break down into a smooth sticky mass with no whole grains left, about eight minutes of hard work.
4. Cover the pounded rice and let it rest for ten minutes.
5. Put the brown sugar, water and ginger slices into a small pan.
6. Simmer for eight minutes until the syrup coats the back of a spoon, then remove the ginger and add a pinch of salt.
7. Wet your hands and pull off a walnut-sized piece of the rice dough.
8. Roll it into a ball and throw it firmly onto the tray of soybean flour, which is where the bang comes from.
9. Roll the ball through the flour until it is fully coated, then set it aside.
10. Repeat until all the dough is used, working in groups of three.
11. Arrange the balls in bowls, three to a serving.
12. Pour the warm syrup generously over the top and finish with toasted sesame seeds.