Making Sticky Rice Balls

This snack can also be called palitaw / bilo-bilo / hot chiba / nuom chi / etc! But the end result is always a yummy, sticky dish that is just way too fun to eat. 

I'd like to give a full disclosure and some clarifications to start off this entry. When I decided to call this blog "The Weekend Stitcher", I was in the midst of a yarn project. Actually, I'm always in the middle of a yarn project. Hence, the name. However, I realize now that the title can be a little deceiving since I will post a lot about other activities that I enjoy that may not necessarily involve stitching. I hope you don't mind, as my goal is to share things I enjoy to do and hopefully help others out along the way. 

Today, I decided to make some sticky rice balls. The inspiration for this came about when my husband and I watched an episode of The Food Ranger as he began his tour around Chengdu. He shared a lot of interesting and delicious looking food, but it was his short feature on a sticky rice dish covered in white sugar and sesame seeds that really called out to me. They called it "hot chiba" in the show and appears to be a common street food in China. Watching it be served and eaten, it made me crave the sticky rice balls that we used to eat as children in the Philippines. 

Back home, we had different names for this dish but it was usually composed of 3 simple ingredients: glutinous rice flour (malagkit na kanin), water and sugar. The way to make it is really easy, and it can be included in various dishes. Flatten it, and it becomes what we call palitaw. Roll it up in little balls and it becomes bilo-bilo. Other people boil it in water, while some choose to cook it in sweetened coconut milk. Any way its cooked, they become soft chewy pillows of goodness that are just addicting to eat. 

The secret to getting that chewy texture. I initially thought it would be hard to find this ingredient,
but it was available in our neighborhood Coles. You can also try an Asian market near you. 

I've written up a few short steps on how to make these sticky rice balls so you can enjoy them as well. They're best eaten when a bit warm, but they stay chewy for a few hours after. 

All the ingredients you'll need! Not shown: regular plain old water

INGREDIENTS:
for the sticky rice ball
1 cup (120 grams) glutinous rice flour
1/8 cup (25 grams) white sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) water

for the sugar sesame powder
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp white sugar 

PROCEDURE:
1. Mix your flour and sugar together in a bowl. 


2. Add in the water and mix until it forms a solid disc. You may choose to add more water if it feels too dry, 1 tsp at a time but avoid adding too much as it should be able to hold its shape and not be too sticky. You can use your hands to get a better feel of the dough. 

This is how it should look like after mixing the water in. It holds its shape and just slightly tacky.

3. Using a spoon or a small ice cream scoop, gather about 1 tbsp of dough and roll into balls. Alternatively, you can choose to flatten them into little discs to make traditional Filipino palitaw, but I prefer that they stay pretty chewy so I kept them as is. 

All rolled up and ready to be boiled

4. Boil about 3 cups of water in a big pot. Once the water has come to a rolling boil, start dropping the shaped balls into the water one at a time. Make sure you stir them in every so often to avoid the balls sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

A little blurry, but you get the picture (whomp whomp). If you'll notice, the balls sunk to the bottom of the pan after being dropped in. Make sure you stir the water lightly to avoid them sticking to the pan and to one another while cooking. 

5. You'll know the balls are cooked once they start floating to the surface of the water. It'll take about 3 - 5 minutes for this to happen. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and place on a plate to cool. 

You'll know they're cooked once they start floating to the top of the plan.
Easiest way to tell something is ready! 

Look at these shiny, glossy cooked sticky balls!

6. For the coating, grind up the sesame seeds and white sugar together. You can choose to use a mortar and pestle or food processor for this, or you can choose to just mix them up together! I used the grinding attachment of our Nutribullet (cause that's all we have here right now), but use the method you prefer. Drop the balls in the (powdered) mixture one at a time and thoroughly coat. 

Rolling in the deep...sesame mixture.

7. Eat and enjoy! Alternatively, you can also choose to serve them in various ways: 
- combine whole sesame seeds with brown sugar
- toast sesame seeds prior coating
- roll in cocoa powder 
- coat in some crushed nuts

I plan to try to add fillings to these next time (some melted chocolate would be good, or red bean paste, or crushed nuts...you get the idea). Make these balls your own and enjoy! 

I placed the balls on a stick because food on sticks are always better. The one on the left was made with a mixture of whole sesame seeds and brown sugar. The one on the right is coated in the crushed sesame seed and white sugar mixture. Both are really yummy and fun to eat! 

Hope you enjoy your midday snack!