Wenchang Hollow Fried Glutinous Rice Balls

Wenchang Hollow Fried Glutinous Rice Balls

　　Features: A unique snack from Hainan, popular in the renowned overseas Chinese hometown of Wenchang City, especially famous in the Jinshan area, where it is locally called “Jinshan Hollow Treasure Bag.” It is an unfilled, deep-fried rice product as big as a volleyball. Traditionally used as a festive gift for celebrations, it is generally not sold commercially. After improvements by pastry chefs, its size has been reduced to make it suitable for daily preparation and sale.

　　Ingredients: 500g glutinous rice flour, 100g white sugar, 2000g cooking oil.

　　Preparation:

　　1. Mix 100g of glutinous rice flour with water to form a dough, knead into a ball, and boil in hot water until cooked. Remove and place on a cutting board. Mix with the remaining 400g of glutinous rice flour and add white sugar. Knead thoroughly by hand until elastic and sticky (if too dry, add a little hot water and continue kneading) to form the glutinous rice dough.

　　2. Divide the dough into two equal parts, shape each into a round ball, flatten, and then pinch into hollow spherical shapes, leaving a small hole. Inflate the inside and quickly seal the opening to create two fried glutinous rice ball bases.

　　3. Heat oil in a pan to 120°C, gently place the bases into the hot oil, and fry while turning with long chopsticks to ensure even heating. When the balls have doubled in size, remove them. Once completely cooled, repeat the frying process using the same method. Repeat 3–4 times until they expand to the size of a volleyball.

　　Characteristics: Golden in color, large and perfectly round, with a thin, crispy crust and sweet, delicious taste. (When eating, cut into small pieces with scissors or break apart by hand.)