Red Bean Stuffed Pumpkin & Glutinous Rice Cakes

Crispy Pumpkin & Glutinous Rice Cake with Red Bean Paste

Ingredients:

Pumpkin 250g, peeled, cored and seeds discarded
Glutinous rice flour 170g
Red bean paste 200g, rolled into 20g balls and chilled slightly in the freezer to make it firm
Cooking oil for frying

Directions:

Cut the pumpkin into similarly sized slices and microwave covered at 900W for 3-5 minutes, until they are soft and can be easily mashed with a fork. Cooking time will depend on the size of your slices.

Mash the pumpkins and let it cool until it can be worked by hand. Add the rice flour and mix well until it forms a firm paste. Add more rice flour if paste feels too sticky. You can also add a tea spoon of sugar to the mixture if you prefer a sweeter taste or your pumpkin is not very sweet.

Gently roll the paste into a log, then divide into 10 pieces of roughly 40g each.

Roll each piece between your palms quickly to keep the paste smooth, then press one thumb into the center of the paste ball while turning it to make it into a small cup shape.

Fill with 20g of red bean paste, then gently pinch the sides of the paste "cup" over the red bean paste to close. Roll the closed ball between your palms to smooth out the closure. Then gently flatten it to 1.5cm patty.

Heat up some cooking oil over med heat for deep frying. When you slide the flattened patties in, the oil should bubble gently at the edges, not rolling vigorously.
Fry for 8-10 minutes or until both sides are golden. Keep the oil temperature low so the patties don't burst open during the frying process. The patties will be quite puffed up by the end.
Then be patient and let it cool a little before you eat! Don't burn yourself!

Note:

I used a pre-made red bean paste from a Chinese grocery store. You can add a spoon of lard to it if you want a richer and slightly runny texture of the filling.