Sugar-Free Sesame Ball - Air Fryer Chinese Jian Dui 气炸锅煎堆
Using an air fryer to make these sugar-free sesame balls means it's not soaked dipped in oil during cooking, making it a healthier snack. I have also used monk fruit sweetener in making the dough and the peanut paste and mung bean paste fillings so it's vegan-friendly.
Mix the glutinous rice flour with salt and monk fruit sweetener (or sugar). Make a well in a centre and add hot water gradually in 2 separate parts.
80 g glutinous rice flour , 1 tsp monk fruit sweetener, 1/8 tsp salt, 75 ml hot water
Use a spatula to start mixing, the mixture will turn crumbly. Then add the second part of the water, it will start to form a crumbly sticky dough. Note: Add a bit more water if the dough is not forming, but not too much in case the dough will become too sticky.
When cool enough to handle the dough, use your hand to knead the dough.
Add 10ml vegetable oil gradually and knead into a soft, pliable, non-sticky and shiny dough. The dough should not break when you knead it. Note: If it’s too dry, add some water to the dough. If it’s too sticky, add some glutinous rice flour.
10 ml vegetable oil
Cover with cling wrap and let them rest for 15 minutes.
Roll 25g of filling and 25g of dough into balls. Cover with cling wrap.
150 g peanut filling or mung bean filling
To assemble the sesame balls, roll the dough into a ball, use the thumb to press the dough in the middle until it forms a ‘bowl’.
Add a portion of the peanut or mung bean filling into the ‘bowl’. Wrap the dough around the filling and seal it well and make sure the dough ball is smooth with no cracks to prevent leakage during cooking. Note: If the dough turns dry when you wrap, apply a bit of water.
150 g peanut filling or mung bean filling
Roll the wrapped dough ball into a smooth ball.
Dab the assembled dough with some water. Coat it fully with the white sesame seeds.
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
Lightly brush the sesame balls all over with cooking oil.
10 ml vegetable oil
Preheat air fryer at 150 degree celsius / 302 degree fahrenheit for 3 minutes.
Place the sesame balls into the air fryer, leaving 1-inch space in between each sesame ball. Note: The sesame balls will expand after air frying.
Air fry at 150 degree celsius for 12-15 minutes. Flip the sesame balls every 4-5 minutes to ensure even cooking. The sesame balls are ready when they turn golden brown. Note: If some sesame balls go out of shape in the air fryer, use a silicone tong to carefully shape it back again. Take notice if the sesame ball becomes too hard, it means it's overcooked.
Video
Notes
Yields about 150g dough for 6 sesame balls. When air frying, take note not to fry it too long if not it turns hard. However undercooking it will yield a raw taste for the skin. Check out my peanut paste filling and mung bean paste filling recipe.The ratio of skin to filling I used in this recipe is 1:1 (25g:25g). You can see from the pictures that the skin is quite thin after frying. You can adjust the ratio to have more dough versus the paste filling if you prefer the skin to be thicker, such as using 30g:20g.
Nutrition
Calories: 130kcal
Keyword air fryer, asian cuisine, chinese pastry, deep fried, mung bean filling, peanut filling