Pearl Yuanzi
Beautiful in color, sweet and moist, this is a classic Sichuan banquet dessert and a famous Chengdu snack.
Ingredients
Glutinous rice (rinsed and soaked until puffed)
400 g
Rose petals
25 g
Eggs (whites and yolks separated)
4
Candied cherries (halved)
12
Lard
250 g
Flour (dry-toasted until golden)
100 g
Walnut kernels (soaked, peeled, fried crisp, and finely chopped)
50 g
Dry bean flour (sifted, reserve 150 g)
200 g
Sugar
400 g
Instructions
1
Prepare the glutinous rice dough
Rinse the glutinous rice and soak it until puffed, then blanch it in boiling water until cooked through. Drain and let it cool until warm. Divide the rice into two equal piles. To one pile add the egg whites, to the other the egg yolks, plus 50 g lard and the sifted bean flour to each. Mix each pile well, then divide each into 12 portions (24 portions total).
2
Prepare the filling
Soak the walnut kernels, peel off the skins, deep-fry until crisp, and chop finely. Combine 200 g lard, 250 g sugar, the rose petals, and the toasted flour, knead until smooth, and roll the mixture into 24 filling balls.
3
Shape and steam
Wrap each filling ball with one portion of each colored rice dough and roll into a smooth round. Press a halved candied cherry into the top of each. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes, then remove and arrange the dumplings by color on a round serving plate.
4
Make and pour the glaze
Combine 150 g sugar with 200 ml water in a pot and bring to a boil. Thicken with a medium-flow cornstarch slurry and pour the hot glaze evenly over the pearl yuanzi before serving.
