Rice Dumplings with Adzuki Beans & Brown Sugar Syrup

I'm gonna make Rice Dumplings with Adzuki beans & Brown Sugar Syrup. It's kinda Japanese Style. I remember I read one of the recipe online, but I'd forgotten where I saw it. I supposed to make the dumplings larger and dimpled so that they'd have tiny wells for holding thick brown sugar syrup. Hmm.. what about piling up some adzuki beans in those indented dumplings? We shall see...

To avoid confusion, I shall separate the recipe into 3 portion. The Adzuki Beans, The Rice Dumplings, and The Brown Sugar.




The Adzuki Beans

I saw a beautiful pack of Organic Adzuki Beans at Tebrau Jusco JB a week ago, and I don't know what should I do with it. But I just can't help buying it. Hahas!
It's beautiful isn't it? This cost me RM 7.60! Mad expensive!

Since I've got myself a new rice cooker, and I'd need to test the limit. I shall give it a try.
After I bought my rice cooker, the 1st thing I cook is not rice. It's Adzuki Beans! Hahahas...

I supposed to pre-soak the beans before I cook, so that the beans will get soften easily. But I skipped this step. I'm lazy. You all knew it. So, I just throw half cups of beans into the rice cooker, water, set as "Porridge" and start cooking.

What you need here is just half cups of Adzuki beans, water, and some rock sugar.
The Porridge menu takes about 1 hour to cook. The 1st 1 hour, the beans is abit soft, but still within the bean shape. So, I decided to cook another hour. And here, the beans started to "flower" and soften. I leave it there as a "Keep Warm" mode till the next day morning, and the beans is softer than last night...

I added a piece of rock sugar in there, to give the beans a hint of sweetness. Just a hint of sweetness will do. The Adzuki Beans is now done. Set aside for later use.


The Rice Dumplings

I supposed to get some Mochiko sweet rice flour. But... I skipped this. So, I just use glutinous rice flour instead. So, what I made now is literally Tang Yuan (Chinese rice dumplings with sweet soup)


Ingredients

• 1 & half cups of glutinous rice flour
• half cups of water.

This is easy. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead the dough. Stress free! Just knead for about 5mins, and it's done! It should be kinda PlayDoh type of consistency that’s firm yet soft and smooth.

Once the dough is done, roll it in this way... into a 12-inch-long log. Just eyeball it yourself.

Cut it crosswise into about 12 pieces. If you are unsure about the size, it should be about 10grams each dumpling. Roll each one into a 3/4-inch ball and then flatten it into a thick disc, about a scant 1/2 inch thick.

Use your index finger or thumb to make an indentation in the center. Set aside and repeat with the remaining dough.


You’ll form about 23 to 24 1 inch wide dumplings in total.


Bring water to boil, cook the dumplings.

After all the dumplings float to the top, let them cook for another minute, then use a skimmer to scoop them from the water.

Drop them into a bowl of cold or room temperature water to let them cool. The hot dumplings will cause the water turned cloudy. So, you could change the cold or room temperature water for 2 to 3 times to get rid of the cloudy water. I changed the water twice.

I can assure you that you will like this soft and chewy dumplings.




The Brown Sugar Syrup
The sweet stuff!



Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Muscovado. Or any dark brown sugar. You may use Molasses if you like.
• 1/4 cup water
• Pinch of salt

Incase if you are unsure what is the difference between Molasses and Muscovado. Here is the packing difference for your reference :

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat over medium high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to vigorously simmer for about 3 minutes, until the syrup has kinda caramelized and thickened.

When the syrup is done, take it off the heat and wait for the bubbling action to subside before stirring in the salt. Set the brown sugar aside and let it cool.
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How to eat? Here....

For each portion, put 2 to 3 tablespoons of adzuki beans in a bowl. Top with some dumplings, and a drizzle of the sugar syrup.

The dumplings are dimpled, and as I mentioned, they'd have tiny wells for holding thick brown sugar syrup just like this....


Oh yes! Must eat this dessert with a spoon to ensure that you get some of each of the ingredients in every bite.


Messed it up! Haha!
Yumm!!! :D

I should have get some kinako and put on top! Regretted for not buying it that day. Darn!