Chinese Smiling Sesame Balls (笑口棗)
Crispy, golden Chinese smiling sesame balls with a sweet, soft center and the signature crack—These smiling sesame ball cookies are easy to make and perfect for snacks or celebrating Chinese New Year.
Equipment
- 1 Pot For frying
Ingredients
- 2-3 Cups White sesame seeds For coating dough balls
- 70 g White granulated sugar
- 1 Cup Water For dripping in dough balls
- 240 grams Cake flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Table salt
- 30 ml Cooking oil 2 Tablespoons
- 2 Extra large Eggs Roughly about 60g without the shell each
Instructions
- Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl.
- Sieve it into a large mixing bowl.
- Next, add in your sugar and give it a quick mix.
- Add in your oil. Give it a quick mix.
- Then add in the eggs.
- Mix everything well together.
- Now, knead the dough until all of the ingredients are mixed well together and there are no more flour spots (about 1-2 minutes).
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 25 minutes.
- Then divide the dough into balls that weigh about 10g each. I highly suggest using a kitchen scale to weigh out each piece so that you get equally sized balls.
- Next, dip each dough ball into water and roll it in sesame seeds. You can also rub water onto the dough balls (my preferred method).
- Then pack the sesame seeds into the balls so that they don’t fall off by gently squeezing the balls.
- Cover the sesame balls and set them aside for now.
- Next, heat up a pot of oil until it reaches between 130°C-135°C. Make sure that there is enough oil to fully submerge the sesame balls.
- Once the oil temperature reaches between 130°C-135°C, add the sesame balls. Don’t overcrowd the pot, as you’ll need to move the sesame balls around.
- Then, turn off the stove. Yes, turn it off!
- Let the sesame balls slowly float to the top, then turn on the lowest setting.
- Let them fry for about 5 minutes on the lowest setting then increase the temperature to medium-low heat and fry for another 3-4 minutes and then finally increase the temperature to medium or medium-high heat and fry for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Total frying time should be approximately 10-11 minutes.
- Do not let it get too brown while frying on medium/medium-high heat; it will continue to cook and get darker once you remove it from the hot oil! Make sure to occasionally move the balls around in a circular motion using a spider strainer or some chopsticks while slightly pushing the balls back into the oil.
- Once done, remove them from the oil and let them cool down before serving.
Notes
Note: You need a kitchen scale to weigh out the measurements for this recipe!