Sticky rice cake is crispy on the outside with a gooey texture inside. You will smell the toasted sesame seeds from afar. The first bite of the slightly spongy and pleasantly fragrant rice cake has such a delightful mouthfeel. The sweet and moist red bean paste will melt in your mouth so quickly that won’t be able to resist devouring the whole cake!
The sticky rice cake with red bean paste is one of my favorite desserts in local Chinese restaurants. Actually, it is not a very standard Chinese dessert and not many restaurants serve it. But since both red bean paste and sticky rice are commonly used in Chinese desserts and pastries, to combine them into one treat makes perfect sense.
I tried my best to recreate this delicious pastry, but I chose to grill the cake in a skillet instead of deep frying. The original version of the cake isn’t coated with sesame seeds and has a golden surface. However, I really don’t like to fry things at home as I always prefer cooking with less oil. So, I invented this method to coat the cake with sesame seeds so the dough won’t stick to the bottom of the skillet, even with little oil in the pan. Plus, it gives the cake a great nutty flavor.
A few more words about Chinese desserts
Compared to the cakes, cookies, and desserts from Europe or the US, Chinese desserts are not nearly as sweet. Instead of butter and flour, they often use lard and glutinous rice flour. Instead of butter cream frosting, they use red bean paste, date paste, or sesame paste to add sweetness. Instead of baking, they invariably require steaming or frying.
If you are not familiar with Chinese desserts, you might find all these elements very strange. However, if you’ve ever tried dessert from Japan or Southeast Asian countries, you might find some similarities among them. If you keep an open mind and would like to try out new things, I hope you will give Chinese desserts, such as this rice cake, a chance as well.
Sometimes, I tend to eat this dish as a snack instead of as a dessert. It is not as indulgent as a piece of cheese cake. Instead, it is quite filling and healthy. Unlike with a snickers bar, I won’t feel guilty at all if I gulp down two slices of rice cake after a workout.
To make sticky rice cake with red bean paste
It is super easy to make this dish and you only need four ingredients. You can find both glutinous rice flour and red bean paste at a Chinese or Asian market. You could also make your own red bean paste at home. It is healthier and even tastier than the kind you’ll find in the supermarket.
When you shop for glutinous rice flour (also called sweet rice flour), make sure you choose the kind that is milled from long grain sweet rice, which is for grilling and baking. The texture is stiff and will form a very crispy surface when heated. The one made from short grain rice is also called mochiko, often used to make cold desserts such as Japanese mochi. Even with the same label, “glutinous rice flour”, it could be made from long grain or short grain rice. Pay attention to this when picking your flour.
Also notice, the so-called glutinous flour (because of the sticky texture) is actually gluten free. However, if you are gluten intolerant, you should look for the variety specifically labelled as gluten free.
I have created a short video to help you through the cooking process, with an emphasis on how to wrap the red bean paste.
Want more rice cake recipes? Check out my savory Chinese BBQ Sticky Rice Cake and learn how to use kale to create a beautiful green colored rice cake!
Sticky Rice Cake with Red Bean Paste
Ingredients
- 250 grams (9 ounces) glutinous rice flour and extra flour to dust working surface
- 1 1/2 cups red bean paste
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup white roasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Add sweet rice flour into a large bowl. Measure out 1 cup of water (You will use slightly less than a cup). Slowly add water into the flour in 4 to 5 pours, and stir with a fork until the water is fully incorporated with the flour. There should be no dry flour left, and the flour should start to have the texture of dough - soft but not runny. If the dough gets too soft and becomes difficult to shape, add more rice flour, a tablespoon at a time. Use your hand to press and knead the dough a few times, until the texture becomes consistent (* see footnote). The dough should be soft and easy to shape. When you lift the dough from the bowl, it should slightly stick to the bottom of the bowl.
- Dust a working surface with rice flour and transfer the dough onto it. Divide the dough in half. Roll the dough with both hands to shape it into a long, even rod. Divide the dough equally into 6 pieces. Shape each piece into a round ball and set aside.
- To make the cake, place one rice dough ball in your palm and use the other hand to gently press it into a round, flat piece (it’s very easy to shape, so you won’t need a rolling pin), about 6 centimeters (2.5 inches) in diameter, 6 millimeters (1/4 inch) in thickness.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of red bean paste and shape the paste into a ball. Place the ball of bean paste in the center of the round dough. Pinch the edges of the dough together to completely enclose the bean paste. When the cake is shaped like a ball, gently use your palm to press it, until it is shaped like a pancake, about 6 centimeters (2.5 inches) in diameter and 1.2 centimeters (1/2 inches) in thickness. Spread 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds onto the working surface, place the cake on top of them, and gently press. Shake off the extra sesame seeds, flip the cake, and press the other side onto the seeds. Craft the rest of the cakes in the same manner.
- Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, turn to medium low heat and place 4 cakes into the skillet. Cook until the bottom of the cake turns golden brown, after 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side. Transfer the cakes to a large plate to cool. Cook the rest of the cakes in the same manner.
- Serve the rice cakes warm.
Notes
- Unlike dough made from wheat flour, rice flour dough is much easier to knead and doesn’t need time to rest. The dough does not contain gluten, so it won’t hold very well when stretched. The way to handle this type of dough is different, but you will find it very easy to get used to.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts are calculated based on 1 of the 12 cakes generated from this recipe.
Hi there, would it still remain tasty if I make it one night ahead?
Hi!
I was wondering how long the assembled but uncooked rice cakes can be left before frying? Could you cover them in cling wrap and leave them out for a few hours and then fry them right before serving to guests? I love to give guests freshly fried food if I can!
Hi Sabina, I’m afraid I don’t have a great answer because we always fry the rice cakes after we finish wrapping. I suspect the dough will dry out too much if you leave them for a few hours. What I would do is to fry them first then reheat gently in a pan right before serving. The surface will remain crispy that way.
Hi, Maggie
These look so good….. Can I bake it n at how many degree C?
Thanks
Hi Lilyn, I’ve never made the dish in an oven and I’m not sure it will work. I think it works the best on a stovetop because you can use the hot pan to get the surface of the cake very crispy.
HELP! I have gone through page after page of sweet rice flour products and either they don’t list long grain in the description OR they say its from short grain! Arrrrgh! I live in a rural area and have no Asian stores nearby so I have to order online. Can you please tell me what brand of flour I need?
Hello Maggie, do you think I can pre-make everything? And leave it in the fridge, pan fried it whenever I am ready to eat it? Thank you!
THIS IS AMAZING AND IM GOING TO MAKE IT TONIGHT!!
Thank you so much Maggie! This is one of my favorite pastries . Your recipe is perfect. The video is great, photos are inviting and your tip in choosing the right kind of glutinous flour helps. I did it tonight for my daughter’s birthday and it was delish!
Hi! I am in the process of a Chinese adoption, and want to introduce my biological children to the Chinese culture by making something for Chinese New Year this weekend. I’m also responsible for bringing a snack to my son’s preschool to celebrate. Do you think this would work if it was not able to be served warm? Or do you have a different suggestion for a snack that would be easy to transport and serve room temperature? This is a whole new world to me! 🙂 Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah, the rice cake might taste a bit tough if you serve them at room temperature and the texture not sticky as it should be.
I have some cookie recipes that are great serving at room temperature:
Almond cookies: https://omnivorescookbook.com/chinese-almond-cookies/
Sesame cookies: https://omnivorescookbook.com/sesame-checkerboard-cookies/
Can you make this ahead? Or lightly cook it and store it somehow and then cook it again?
Hi Jennifer, you can make this ahead and reheat later. To keep the texture crispy, I would reheat it in a pan to warm it just like when you cook it.
Can’t wait to try these. How do you store them – fridge or room temperature, and how do I reheat them.
I store them in the fridge. To reheat, the best way is to pan fry them with a bit oil at medium or medium low heat, so they warm up slowly and the outside will crisp up again.
For the home made red bean paste used here, should I use the maltose version or the non-maltose version? Thank you! This recipe looks amazing.
Both will work but I used the non-maltose version works great here. The maltose version is for mooncakes and it has a slightly richer taste and heavier texture.
Hi Maggie, I love your recipes, thank you so much! Would you say I could use black sesame instead?
You can totally use a black sesame paste filling and the result should be very tasty.
This worked really well. Totally satisfied my sesame ball craving.
how would i go about reheating this?
I usually pan fry them with low heat so they will be warm inside and the outside will be crispy.
Awesome recipe …. Made my first batch today for my mom and mother in law. “both
Awesome recipe, I made my first batch today for my mom and mother in law. “both loved it”. Definitely will. make it again.
I have had many sesame balls from a Chinese bakery from Chicago(Chiu Quon), but never in my wildest dreams did I think I could make something so similar and so delicious! I even made my own red bean paste, and all in all it was a pretty easy dessert to make. Thank you for this awesome recipe!
So easy and so good, just like the ones from the Asian market, instead of red bean paste I used date paste
This was so easy, and I even had to make the flour first as I was too lazy to go to the store haha…. I burnt them a little (uneven stove) but they were still great! I am making them again today…. if you are making your own flour like me, I soaked the glutinous rice overnight, then drained and blended it and that was enough, the amount of water I needed to make the dough then was much less as the rice was still a little wet when I blended it, just a heads up. But it worked! I reluctantly shared them with my partner who isn’t a fan of the mochi texture but really liked these! Thank you!
hey maggie! was wondering if i could use tapioca flour instead of glutinous rice?
I’m afraid not. Tapioca flour is totally different and won’t form a dough.
Have not tried this yet, but these are a Chinatown bakery fave of mine–so glad to see the recipe!