Onde-Onde or sesame seed balls

Ondeh-Ondeh also spelled as Onde-Onde, are sticky rice snacks filled with sweet mung bean paste. It seems that these sesame balls are originally a Chinese snack. They can be filled with lotus paste (蓮蓉), sweet black bean paste (hei dousha, 黑豆沙), or red bean paste (hong dousha, 紅豆沙). More on WIKI.

These sesame seed balls are common throughout South-East Asia. In the Philippines, onde-onde is called buchi, in Malasyia kuih bom. Onde-onde in Malaysia means something different. If Malay speak of onde-onde they mean klepon ;-).

Onde-onde is an Asian snack classic. That’s why I think this blog needs it, even though it’s not in Beb Vuyk’s cook book ;-). It’s quit some work, but worth it 😉

With this recipe you can make about 20 onde-onde. You need 1,5 hours to make the balls. Let the mung beans soak for at least 5 hours.

Ingredients

200 grams of ketan flour (sticky rice flour)
1 1/2 tablespoons (40 grams) of regular flower
2 dl (1,5 cup) of coconut milk

100 grams of (raw) mung beans
2 tablespoons of kitchen syrop
50 grams of sesame seeds
2 1/2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons of salt

Mung Bean Filling

To make the inside of these sesame seed rice balls you need to soak 100 grams of mung beans for at least 5 hours.

I’ve left my mung beans overnight in plenty of water. Now they are soft enough to cook. Cook them for at least 30 minutes. Drain the mung beans and throw them back into the pan.

Now add two tablespoons of kitchen syrop. I use Dutch thick and dark syrup from the Dutch province Friesland, but any super sweet syrup will do.

Also, add half of the salt and all the vanilla sugar. Now stir on low heat for about 5 minutes. When everything has softened up, stir it until it forms a thick paste. Or use a blender.

Dough

Now I let the paste cool and I start with the dough for the outside of the ball.

Mix the sticky rice flour, regular four, the rest (half) of the salt and the coconut milk together into a thick and shiny dough.

While kneading I add the coconut milk bit by bit. If your dough needs more you can add a few extra tablespoons of water or coconut milk.

The dough needs to have a shiny, kids play dough texture. Now I form a ball the size of a pingpong ball. I do not like my onde-onde too big.

I make room in the middle of the ball and flatten it out a bit to form the space where your almost completely cooled down sweet mung bean paste fits snug. Add the mung bean filling.

Close it like a dumpling. Press the sides together and roll into a ball again. Make sure the filling cannot come out.

Now gently roll them through the sesame seeds and your are ready to fry. If your balls are not a perfect sphere no worries. During frying you turn them and they will be nicely round and puffed.

Have vegetable oil on medium heat. If the oil is too hot your onde-onde will crack. Fry the balls (3 at the same time) while moving them around rolling through the oil for exactly 6 minutes.

When your balls float they are done. Leave the balls to rest for a minute on a piece of kitchen paper and you are ready to serve. Onde-onde are best eaten warm. Selamat makan!

Beb Vuyk, best known for her Groot Indonesisch Kookboek (Great Indonesian Cook Book), was much more than a great cook. She belongs to the most important Dutch-Indonesian (Indo) writers and journalists of her time. Check this out.