Chinese Desserts

Chinese Desserts -

Chinese desserts (Chinese: 甜點; pinyin: tiándiǎn or Chinese: 中式甜點; pinyin: zhōngshì tiándiǎn) are sweet foods and dishes that are served with tea, along with meals[1] or at the end of meals in Chinese cuisine. The desserts encompass a wide variety of ingredients commonly used in East Asian cuisines such as powdered or whole glutinous rice, sweet bean pastes, and agar. Due to the many Chinese cultures and the long history of China, there are a great variety of desserts of many forms.

Here are some of the Dessert recipes........

Chocolate Spring Rolls

Sesame Seed Balls

Egg Custard Tarts

Mango Pudding

Chocolate Spring Rolls

Sweet avatar of spring rolls – these are filled with chocolate and served with icecream.

Ingredients:
•Dark chocolate,grated 1 cup
•Spring roll wrappers 4-5
•Almonds,chopped 10-12
•Cornflour/ corn starch 1 tablespoon
•Oil to deep fry
•Vanilla ice cream 4 scoops
•Honey 4 teaspoons

Method:
Cut spring roll wrappers into quarters using a scissor and keep aside. Dry roast almonds for three to four minutes till golden crisp. Combine cornstarch with two tablespoons of water to make a thick paste. To prepare spring rolls, place a spoonful of grated chocolate on one corner of the spring roll wrapper and roll it up to enclose the filling completely. Seal the edges using cornstarch paste. Similarly prepare the remaining spring rolls. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep-fry the spring rolls till golden brown and crisp. Remove and drain onto an absorbent paper and keep aside. Divide vanilla ice cream into four dessert bowls, drizzle a spoonful of honey, sprinkle some roasted chopped almonds, place two to three spring rolls vertically in the same bowl and serve immediately.

Sesame Seed Balls

While Chinese bakeries sell sesame seed balls throughout the year, they are especially popular during the Chinese New Year season.

Ingredients:
6 cups oil for deep-frying, or as needed
1/2 cup white sesame seeds, or as needed
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 - 1 1/3 cups boiling water
3 cups (about 400 grams) glutinous rice flour
1 cup (about 200 grams) red bean paste (may not all be used)

Preparation:
In a wok or deep-sided, heavy saucepan, pre-heat the oil for deep-frying to 350 degrees F. Make sure that there is at least 3 inches of oil in the wok. Spread the sesame seeds over a piece of wax or parchment paper. Place a small bowl of water beside the sesame seeds.
Dissolve the brown sugar in 1 cup of the boiling water.
Place the rice flour in a large bowl. Make a "well" in the middle of the bowl and add the dissolved sugar and water mixture. Stir until you have a sticky, caramel-colored dough, adding as much of the remaining 1/3 cup of boiling water as needed (don't add the water if not needed).
Pinch off a piece of dough roughly the size of a golf ball. Use your thumb to make a deep indentation in the dough and then the thumb and index fingers of both hands to form the dough into a cup. Roll 1 level teaspoon of sweet red bean paste into a ball. Place the red bean paste in the hole, and shape the dough over the top to seal. It is important to make sure the red bean paste is completely covered. Continue with the remainder of the dough.
Dip a ball into the small bowl of water (this will help the sesame seeds stick to the ball). Roll the ball over the sesame seeds. Repeat the process with the remainder of the balls.
Deep-fry the sesame seed balls, a few at a time, in the hot oil.
Once the sesame seeds turn light brown (about 2 minutes), use the back of a spatula or a large ladle to gently press the balls against the side of the wok or saucepan. Continue applying pressure as the balls turn golden brown and expand to approximately 3 times their normal size.
Drain the deep-fried sesame seed balls on paper towels. Serve warm. If preparing ahead, refrigerate and then re-heat the balls until they puff up again.

Note: This is one of the more difficult Chinese recipes. The problem comes during deep-frying - the sesame seed balls need to be turned continually to expand. It takes practice to skillfully maneuver the balls in the hot oil. Even with practice, you may not have the perfectly shaped, large sesame seed balls sold at Chinese bakeries.

Egg Custard Tarts

Ingredients:

Pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup lard
1/3 cup butter
4 tablespoons hot water, or as needed

Custard Filling:
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups whole milk
4 ounces sugar (castor or superfine if possible)
yellow food coloring (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and grease the tart pans.
Cut the lard. Use a sifter to sift the flour into a large bowl. Work the lard and butter into the flour with the tips of your fingers, until the mixture has the appearance of coarse breadcrumbs. Continue kneading, adding the hot water. Roll the dough into a large ball, cover with wax paper and refrigerate while preparing the custard filling.
Lightly beat the eggs, taking care not to produce any air bubbles. Stir in the milk and the sugar. Add the yellow food color if using.
On a large, lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until it is very thin (about 1/8-inch or 3 to 4 mm thick). Cut the dough in half before rolling out if needed. Use a pastry cutter to cut out 18 circles that are 3-inches in diameter. Fit the circles into the tart shells.
Pour the filling into the shells. Bake until the custard is cooked and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 35 minutes). Cool.

Mango Pudding

Mango pudding is a popular dim sum dessert. Stephen Wong writes: "This simple dessert captures the glorious flavor of mango like no other. Its texture is silky rich, and its flavor, simply wonderful. Fresh cream is called for in the original recipe, but evaporated milk gives it the same richness without the fat."

Ingredients:
2 envelopes (2 tablespoons total) unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
1 cup (250 mL) hot water
3 cups (750 mL) pureed fresh mangoes
1 cup (250 mL) 2 percent evaporated milk
8 ice cubes
lime wedges, optional
fresh mango slices for garnish, optional

Preparation:
Add gelatin and sugar to hot water and mix until dissolved and smooth.
In large bowl, mix mango puree, evaporated milk and ice cubes. Pour gelatin mixture into mango mixture and stir until ice cubes are melted.
Pour mixture into jelly mould and chill until set, at least 3 hours. To serve, dip jelly mould briefly in hot water then turn pudding out onto platter. Squeeze on some lime juice, garnish with mango slices if desired and serve. (Best eaten within a day).