Look at these round mounds of sweetness that look like soft, spongy pillows. Similar in taste and texture to mochi balls, these Nuomici are the Chinese version, where both are made from glutinous rice flour.

This recipe belongs to my Auntie and comes all the way from down under. It was kindly shared with me via my cousin Bic, whom is one of my closest cousins. She’s one of my few cousins who I keep in regular contact with and when she spoke with such vigour about these sweet but salty peanut and sesame seed filled glutinous balls that her mum had made, I had to give them a try. She was nice enough to take photos of my Auntie making them and emailed them to me.




All my Aunties are so very good at cooking and in particular making traditional desserts. You know the ones that you ate as a kid and didn't appreciate the effort that went into making them. The ones that take time and skill, using a family recipe that was handed down from their own mothers. They have this knack for perfecting the desserts, which comes from years and years of practice. Sadly, these recipes are on the brink of extinction because my generation have not bothered to learn them. We have taken it for granted that our mums and aunties will be always be there to cook for us.




It was whilst following my auntie's recipe that I was reminded of childhood memories where my Aunties would get together to cook and chat. It was the constant, incessant chatting that I remember the most. I don't recall what they spoke of exactly but I was amazed at how much talking they did. What on earth could they talk about for hours on end? As an adult, I realised that this act of cooking together had a far deeper meaning. The kitchen was the women's domain. It was something they did together, a bonding session, a reason to socialise and have endless conversation away from their husbands.



Making these sweet Asian desserts and documenting them here is a start to preserving my family recipes. A lot of the times, you will find them filled with a red bean paste like this recipe but what I like about my Auntie's recipe is that the filling has texture, and you get a hit of sweetness and saltiness when you bite into them.

I failed to follow the instructions to a tee and decided to use my hands instead of cling film to roll the balls, and as a result I paid for my error with incredibly sticky fingers. The glutinous rice mixture is far too sticky to roll with your hands, believe me. Take two and I learnt that it is imperative to use cling film. It took a number of attempts for me to get the rolling technique right and the portions even. My first few balls were not particularly attractive and went straight into my mouth. Well, I had to test them and make sure they tasted right. And they tasted more than just right.

Thank you Bic and Auntie for sharing this recipe!


Make approximately 40 balls (depending on the size you make them)


FOR THE GLUTINOUS RICE SHELL

1 cup sugar
350ml cold water
375g white glutinous rice flour
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
350 ml full cream milk

Melt the sugar and water in a pot until the sugar is dissolved to create a sugar syrup. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool until luke warm.

In a large bowl add the rice flour, corn starch and full cream milk. Using your hands mix together. Add the melted sugar syrup to the batter and continue to mix thoroughly with your hands.

To steam the batter, in a large pot, set up a tripod or stand that will hold and balance a bowl. Fill the pot halfway with water. Pour the batter into a deep bowl and place the bowl into the pot. For this, I used 2 ramekins which I placed on the base of the pot, then placed a large enough plate that would sit on top of the ramekins and would balance the bowl with the batter. Place the lid on the pot and steam for 20 mins.


FOR THE FILLING

1 cup roasted peanuts
1 cup sesame seeds
3 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the roasted peanuts. Mix the above ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.


TO ASSEMBLE

Prepare a plate with desiccated coconut.

Prepare a board by placing a layer of cling film on top. Place a small dash of vegetable oil onto the cling film and using your fingers, spread the oil all over the cling film.

Scoop a tbsp of the sticky rice batter and place it in the centre of the cling film. Pick up the cling film with the sticky rice and roll it into a ball. Using the lid of a take away box covered in cling film or a rolling pin covered in cling film, flatten the ball of sticky rice so it is approximately 6cm in diameter. You don't want it to be too thin otherwise the filling will break through. It also does not have to be perfectly round, just flat enough so you can add the filling to the centre and roll it into a ball again.

Place 1 tsp of the filling in the centre of the flattened sticky rice. Carefully pick it up from under the cling film and bring it together. It helps to twist the cling film to create a ball. Use the cling film to mould the ball into a round shape. Drop the ball onto the plate of desiccated coconut and roll it until fully covered.


NOTES

After every 3-4 ball, you may need to re-apply some more oil to the cling film to prevent the sticky rice from sticking to it.