Sweet potato rice balls tasty treats combine mashed sweet potato with glutinous rice flour to form the dough. From there, balls are shaped and filled with various sweet fillings.
Common choices for the filling include coconut sugar, palm sugar or delightful red bean paste – each contributing enticing flavor.
The filled rice balls are next dusted with desiccated coconut or sesame seeds before frying brings everything together.
Deep frying sets the finishing touch, resulting in crispy spheres hiding a tender inside packed with flavor.
Consequently, the sweet potato rice balls deliver a textural experience – soft and chewy within, but crunchy without.
Sweet Potato Rice Balls Ingredients
Sweet potatoes take the lead role in flavor and texture, contributing their natural earthy-sweet taste.
Glutinous rice flour works to bind the mixture together while imbuing the characteristic chewy-soft quality within the balls.
Sugar, whether white, palm, or coconut variety, heightens the underlying sweetness. Each kind lends its own caramel or coconut nuances as well.
Coconut milk or water provides moisture to smoothly combine ingredients into a cohesive dough. Coconut milk can also subtly enhance coconut undertones.
Desiccated or shredded coconut exterior coatings contribute extra crunch along with a hint of coconut zest.
Palm sugar : I used palm sugar , enriching the centers with caramelized depth.
Lastly, breadcrumbs may replace coconut as another crunchy exterior option when deep-frying sets and seals the final product.
How To Make Delicious Sweet Potato Rice Balls
Peel sweet potatoes and slice thinly, then steam until soft and easily pierced through – this ensures thorough cooking.
Next, halve cooled potatoes and scoop flesh into a bowl, allowing it to warm slightly.
To the warm flesh add white sugar and glutinous rice flour. Knead to a smooth, creamy dough consistency.
Scoop tablespoon amounts and shape into balls, hollowing centers by pressing thumbs inside the dough spheres.
Breadcrumbs can be applied to coat balls at this point, if desired.
Then, heat oil in a wok or fryer to medium-high. Carefully add a few rice balls, frying for 3-4 minutes until deeply goldened and float freely, indicating cooked through.
Following this, remove the crispy treats from hot oil employing tongs, and drain on a metal strainer.
Serve warm rice balls immediately whilst their enticing sweet potato taste and texture remain in prime form for enjoying!
Ingredients
2-3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 cup glutinous rice flour
2-4 tablespoons coconut milk or water
1/2 cup shaved dark palm or coconut sugar
4 cups water or more as needed for boiling the dough balls
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut, steamed if needed
Oil for frying
Top Tips
Using generous amounts of glutinous rice flour allows achieving the signature chewy-soft texture within. Gradual addition is key to getting the right firm yet pliable dough.
Moreover, creating a second batch rolled in breadcrumbs rather than coconut provides intriguing contrast through varied coatings and their differing textures and flavors.
Carefully monitoring the oil temperature at around 150°C helps produce golden brown and crispy exteriors while keeping interiors tender. Getting this heating point on target makes all the difference.
Leftover balls maintain freshness when stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Allowing them to gradually return to room temperature for an hour before eating regains their soft appeal.