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Prep 15 minutesmins
Cook 30 minutesmins
Total 45 minutesmins
These crispy fried sesame balls are made with only 6 ingredients and are really easy to make. They are filled with sweet red bean paste and are so good it will keeping you coming back for more!
Golden, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, sesame balls (jian dui) are one of my all-time favorite Chinese dim sum desserts. Every bite offers the perfect combination of a toasted sesame crunch and a slightly sweet, soft red bean paste filling. This classic recipe will be a fan favorite at your next Lunar New Year feast, symbolizing a prosperous and abundant year ahead.
This simple recipe uses only a handful of ingredients and a few easy steps. They are the perfect bite-sized dessert, with the ideal sweet-and-savory balance.
Chinese sesame balls, or jian dui, are a popular Chinese dessert. They are made with sweetened glutinous rice flour, coated with untoasted sesame seeds, and stuffed with a sweetened paste generally red bean, mung beans, or lotus paste. The end result yields a crispy, nutty exterior and a soft, chewy interior.
Sesame balls with red bean paste are most commonly served in dim sum restaurants as a dessert or during the Lunar New Year. Their round shape symbolizes unity, and their puffed-up nature symbolizes growing wealth and rising fortunes. The sweet filling symbolizes a sweet, harmonious life.
Ingredients
You can find all of the ingredients for this sesame balls with red bean paste recipe at your local grocery store. Full measurements and ingredient links are provided in the recipe card below.
Glutinous Rice Flour: It is made from glutinous sticky rice. The glutinous rice flour gives the sesame balls their delicious, chewy texture.
Granulated Sugar: to sweeten the dough
Salt: adds a touch of flavor to the dough.
Red Bean Paste: is a sweetened paste made from boiled adzuki beans and sugar. You can make a homemade red bean paste or buy a premade version. Red bean paste can also be used for a filling in snow skin mooncakes, or taiyaki (Japanese fish dessert)
UntoastedSesame Seeds: coat the exterior of these glutinous rice balls for a nutty flavor and crunch.
Vegetable oil or Neutral oil: You will need a neutral oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable oil, canola oil, peanut oil, or avocado oil.
Substitutes and Additions
Substitutes
Fillings: Lotus paste, black sesame paste, mung bean paste, custard, peanut butter and honey, taro paste, chocolate ganache, etc.
Black sesame seeds: for a more dramatic look.
Additions
Texture: chopped nuts for the filling.
Flavorings: vanilla, pandan, matcha, cocoa powder, cinnamon for the dough.
How to Make Sesame Balls with Red Bean Paste
Here are the step-by-step instructions for how to make these sesame balls with red bean paste recipe.
Prep
In a medium bowl, mix together the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Then slowly mix in the boiling water, and knead until it becomes a dough.
Cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes.
Divide the filling into 10 equal balls, about 1/2 tablespoon each. Prep a bowl of sesame seeds and a bowl of water.
Divide the dough and roll it into 10 equal balls.
Assemble
Flatten the dough with your thumbs until it is about 2-3 inches in diameter. Add the red bean ball in the center and gently wrap the dough around the filling. Roll the ball in your hands until smooth.
Lightly coat the ball with water, then coat with sesame seeds. Press the sesame seeds into the dough.
Frying
In a heavy-bottomed pot, enough oil to cover about 1/2 of the pot. Heat the oil to 300°F (149°C) on medium heat. Add 5 sesame balls, stirring occasionally. Fry for 8-9 minutes.
Increase the heat to high and cook until it reaches 350°F (176°C), then fry for an additional 2-4 minutes until golden brown.
Remove the sesame balls and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
If the dough is too wet and goopy, add more glutinous rice flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together.
If the dough is too dry and cracking, add warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.
Rest the dough. After you mix the dough, rest it for 30 minutes so the flour has time to absorb the water. This makes the dough more pliable and easier to manage.
Refrigerate the red bean paste. This will make the red bean paste easier to work with and roll into balls.
Dough to filling ratio. For these balls, I used about a 2:1 ratio of dough to filling. For example, each dough ball was about 30g, and the filling was about 15g.
Do not overstuff. Be careful using too much filling. It may make the dough too thin, risking it from bursting when fried.
Use a thermometer. The most foolproof way to fry anything is to use a thermometer to monitor the oil’s exact temperature.
Storage Instructions
You can store these Chinese sesame balls with red bean paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Toast them in the oven or in an air fryer at 350°F for 5 minutes or until crisp.
Pairing Suggestions
These sesame balls with red bean paste are typically served as a dessert or with your dim sum favorites. I’ve listed some pairing suggestions below.
Sesame balls are made with a sticky, glutinous rice-flour dough, filled with a sweet paste (red bean, mung bean, lotus), rolled in sesame seeds, and fried until crispy.
Why isn’t my dough coming together?
The right consistency of the dough is when it’s kind of like Play-Doh—manageable and pliable without cracking or falling apart. The dough is too wet if it spreads into a goopy puddle when you set it down. If this happens, add 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice flour at a time, combining until it holds its shape. The dough is too dry if it is crumbly and falls apart when you try to shape it into discs. If this happens, add 1 tablespoon of warm water at a time, combining until it holds its shape.
How do you reheat sesame balls?
The best way to reheat is to pop them in an air fryer or oven at 350°F for 5 minutes or until crisp.
These crispy fried sesame balls are made with only 6 ingredients and are really easy to make at home. They are filled with sweet red bean paste and are the most addictive treat, keeping you coming back for more.
Make the dough. In a medium bowl, mix together the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Make a well in the center and slowly pour in the boiling water while mixing with a rubber spatula. Mix until it forms into a dough, and all the flour has been incorporated. Knead with your hand until the dough forms into a ball.
Rest. Place in a ziploc bag or cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.
Prepare the filling and sesame seeds. Divide the filling into 10 equal balls, about 1/2 tablespoon. Place the sesame seeds in a small bowl and prepare a small bowl of water.
Divide. Roll the dough into a log and divide it into 10 equal balls.
Add the filling. Then flatten the dough with your thumbs until it is about 2-3 inches in diameter. Add the red bean ball in the center and gently wrap the dough around the filling. Pinch the dough together tightly to cover the filling. Roll the ball in between your hands until the seams disappear and you form a smooth, round ball.
Coat the balls with sesame seeds. Lightly coat the ball with water, then cover completely with sesame seeds. Using your hands, reshape the ball and press the sesame seeds into the dough to prevent them from falling off in the oil.
Fry. In a heavy-bottomed pot, add enough oil to cover at least 1/2 of the pot. Heat the oil to 300°F (149°C) over medium-high heat. Add 5 sesame balls at a time, stirring with a slotted spoon, so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Fry for 8-9 minutes or until they float to the top. Make sure to press the balls underneath the oil and flip them around with a slotted spoon for even frying.
Increase the heat. Once the balls begin to float, increase the heat to high until the oil reaches 350°F (176°C), and then cook for an additional 2-4 minutes, stirring continuously until golden brown and crispy.
Cool. Remove the sesame balls with a spider strainer and place on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.
After frying the first five for 8-9 min at 300 F, did you repeat this step for the remaining five, draining in between before increasing the oil temperature to 350 F? Or did you fry five for 8-9 min at 300 F, then increase the oil temperature to 350 F and continue to fry for 2-4 min, and repeat this for the remaining five?(meaning you would have to cool the oil temperature from 350 F to 300 F between batches).
Hi! For the remaining balls, you keep the same oil in between batches. When you drop the balls in, the temperature drops back to around 300 F. You could also turn off the heat and let the oil cool between batches.
I’m looking forward to making these as they are bringing back fond memories of friends who had invited my husband and I, as well as my parents, to celebrate Chinese New Year at their restaurant (Diamond Head Inn, closed for sometime now).
One question, are the sesame balls freezable before frying?
Hi! I hope you enjoy making this recipe. I don’t recommend freezing the balls before frying. It will be better to freeze them after frying and bake them or air fry them to revive them.
I’m a crappy cook and I made these! Recipe was so easy to follow and they turned out great. I could even make them single handed while holding a baby so anyone can. I’d probably make slightly more dough so it can be a little thicker and more chewy next time but really that’s personal preference they were fantastic as is.
After frying the first five for 8-9 min at 300 F, did you repeat this step for the remaining five, draining in between before increasing the oil temperature to 350 F? Or did you fry five for 8-9 min at 300 F, then increase the oil temperature to 350 F and continue to fry for 2-4 min, and repeat this for the remaining five?(meaning you would have to cool the oil temperature from 350 F to 300 F between batches).
Hi! For the remaining balls, you keep the same oil in between batches. When you drop the balls in, the temperature drops back to around 300 F. You could also turn off the heat and let the oil cool between batches.
I’m looking forward to making these as they are bringing back fond memories of friends who had invited my husband and I, as well as my parents, to celebrate Chinese New Year at their restaurant (Diamond Head Inn, closed for sometime now).
One question, are the sesame balls freezable before frying?
Hi! I hope you enjoy making this recipe. I don’t recommend freezing the balls before frying. It will be better to freeze them after frying and bake them or air fry them to revive them.
I’m a crappy cook and I made these! Recipe was so easy to follow and they turned out great. I could even make them single handed while holding a baby so anyone can. I’d probably make slightly more dough so it can be a little thicker and more chewy next time but really that’s personal preference they were fantastic as is.