The Cantonese love their dim-sum.  Dim sum or yum cha (literally drink tea) is a dining experience where a variety of small plates are served. In Hong Kong and most Cantonese restaurants, servers would push carts of steaming hot buns, dumplings and other delectable nibbles calling out their "inventory" in Cantonese.  All of these dim sum dishes would be washed down with your choice of Chinese tea.  One of my favorite items that I ALWAYS order are the fried glutinous rice balls.  To me, this determines whether the restaurant's dim sum is good or bad!  There needs to be a good balance of savory filling to the amount of dough.  The rice dough should be soft, chewy and flavorful on the inside with a light crunch on the outside. Yummm...

I love my coconut milk bread that uses the Tangzhong bread technique, resulting in a softer, moister dough. Tangzhong is a Japanese method of bread making that includes making a kind of roux by boiling water and the flour together.  This starch in the roux traps in the moisture, resulting in a moister and more shelf stable end product.  I decided to experiment with the recipe and incorporated the tangzhong technique into the dough making.  The result was a fried dumpling that was comparable to one that my husband and I ate at J. Zhou which we consider one of the best dim sum restaurants around here.  Most restaurants use lard to lighten up their dough and this recipe doesn't, an added bonus!

Tips for making fried glutinous rice dumplings.

Filling.

The Wong Family's dumpling filling is so delicious, it can be used as a base for many other types of dim sum with a few added ingredients.  As always, I love crunch.  For this filling you can use jicama or water chestnuts.  These are added at the end without cooking to keep it extra crisp.  The filling can be made ahead of time and should be cooled prior to filling the dumplings.

Glutinous rice flour.

Make sure you use the glutinous rice flour and not rice flour.  It's a big difference! The rice flour will not be easy to handle and you won't get the same result. 

Tanzhong

Wheat or corn starch.

It is important to create a tangzhong with the wheat / corn starch.  Corn starch is more readily available.  I highly suggest that you watch the video to see the viscosity of the slurry that you are trying to achieve.  If you overcook the slurry, the dough will be drier. You can remedy this by adding a little more water to get the correct consistency.  I suggest that you control the thickness of the tangzhong by controlling the heat of the stove.  When the mixture starts to thicken, turn the stove off and continue stirring until it reaches the required thickness.  It should resemble a thick custard.

Shaping the dough

There are various methods of shaping the dough.  You can either use a rolling pin, your hand or a cleaver.  I developed this fool-proof technique when making these fried glutinous rice dumplings with my family to ensure the thickness of the dough was consistent.  You can use pastry sticks or free 5 gallon paint sticks that you can get from any paint or hardware store to ensure 1/4" (.64cm) dough thickness.  Make sure it's the larger 5 gallon paint sticks.

Keeping the dough moist.

It is important not to let the dough dry out and crack.  The dry dough creates a skin which prevents the dough from blistering and uniformly expanding.  Various measures can be taken to keep your dough moist.   

• Keep your dough covered under a moist cloth
• Keep your dough balls in a plastic bag
• Work in small batches, assembling and frying the dumplings simultaneously.  (This may require extra help!)

Filling the dumplings.

When filling the dumplings, make sure the dumpling is completely sealed with no cracks.  Bits of filling on the exterior of the dough will burn resulting in a discoloration on the dumpling's skin.  

Frying.

When deep frying, there should be sufficient oil to allow the entire dumpling to be completely submerged below the oil surface.  Do not overcrowd.  Dough exposed above the surface of the oil does not uniformly cook, creating a weak spot.  As the dumpling expands, this weak spot is more vulnerable to splitting, creating an air pocket which may rupture, causing the oil to splatter and misshaping the dumpling.

The oil temperature should be between 350 -375 degrees fahrenheit (176-190 degrees celcius). Use an instant-read thermometer like the one below to ensure the correct temperature.  This temperature allows the dough to slowly cook throughout and evenly expand without burning the exterior.  When the exterior becomes crisp and slightly golden, remove the dumplings and allow them to cool on a wire rack rather than on paper towels.

The dumplings initially sink to the bottom.  Make sure that it doesn't stick to the pot. The dumplings will eventually rise to the surface.  Once it is floating on the surface, turn the dumplings to ensure a uniform color. (You may have to hold it with some tongs or chopsticks!)

Re-heating fried glutinous rice dumplings.

Place fried glutinous rice dumpling on some layered paper towels on a metal tray and re-heat it in the oven or toaster oven.  I have found this the best way to re-heat these dumplings because it re-crisps the exterior and it extracts some of the oil! Make sure you do not burn the paper towels!

If you've tried this recipe, let me know how your fried glutinous rice dumplings turned out in the comment section.