Blue Pea Flower Glutinous Rice Balls with Black Sesame Filling ~蓝花黑芝麻汤圆 February 23, 2016 Yesterday we celebrated the Lantern Festival aka Chap Goh Meh or Chinese call it Yuan Xiao (元宵节) Preparing this tang yuan is quite easy. First, prepare the pandan syrup. If you like ginger syrup just add few slices of ginger into the water to infuse instead of pandan leaves. Second, prepare the black sesame seed filling. This part need a bit of work as the black sesame seed need to be rinse, drain and toast in a dry wok until it start to pop. Do not over toast or it will taste bitter. Let it cool then grind it in a food processor and mix with sugar and soft butter. Shape them into balls and put them into the fridge. It will become harden and wrapping into the dough will be much easier. Makes about 25-27 small balls (i made quarter of the recipe) Ingredients: Dough for blue tang yuan: 25g glutinous rice flour 1 tsp tapioca flour 4g shortening (i added) 40-45 ml blue flower extract** Dough for white tang yuan: 25g glutinous rice flour 1 tsp tapioca flour 4g shortening (i added) 40-45 ml water Pandan syrup: 500ml water 3 pcs pandan leaves, knotted 25-30g brown sugar Black Sesame Seed Filling: 25g black sesame seeds 15g soft brown sugar 12g soft butter To Do: 1. For the pandan syrup: Pour 500ml of water into a pot. Add in knotted pandan leaves. Bring to a boiled about 4-5minutes, add brown sugar, stir well. Set aside. 2. For the filling: Rinse black sesame seeds in clean water. Drain and toast in a clean dry wok, on medium heat until the seeds starts to pop. Dish out and let it cool. Grind the seeds in a food processor till fine. Remove and mix with sugar and butter. Divide the filling into portions, shaped it into balls and freeze it. By freezing it, it is easier to handle when wrapping it into the dough. 3. For the dough: Mixed blue pea flower dough ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour in water and mix into a pliable dough. Repeat the same 'to do' to the white dough.Set aside, cover with a damp cloth. (Do take note, if the dough is too dry add some water, a tsp at a time. If the dough is too wet add some glutinous rice flour, a tsp at a time too till your achieve a soft and pliable dough.) Rolled the blue pea flower dough into a long rope. Cut into 1 cm cube. Flatted it into a thin disc and wrapped a piece of the black sesame filling. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Bring a pot of water to a boil, drop the tang yuan in and cook until they start to float. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and immerse them into a pot of ice cold water. To serve: Dish out some pandan syrup into a bowl and add a few tang yuan balls. Serve immediately. **to extract the blue color from the blue pea flower. I use 25 blue pea flower and boiled with 250ml water for 3-5 minutes, low heat. Fish out all the blue flower and this is the blue color extract. I only use 45ml, i still have some balance left. Stay tune to see what i will do with the balance of it ^_^ If you find the dough is too dry, add some water, a little at a time (1 tsp). If you find it is too wet, add some glutinous flour, a little at a time too (1 tsp) until it comes into a soft pliable dough. Roll the dough into a long rope and cut into 1cm cube. Roll between your palm into a ball and flatten it into a disc. Wrap in a piece of black sesame seed filling and enclosed it neatly.