If you are looking for ideas to use up the Chinese nian gao, you need to try these fried sweet potato balls filled with nian gao inside. It's slightly crispy on the outside and soft chewy on the inside.
The nian gao used needs to be chilled and hardened, not the freshly made nian gao as it is too soft. Cut the nian gao into small cubes. The size depends on how big or small you want to make the balls. I cut mine into about 1-inch cube
Prepare the dough:
Peel the sweet potato and cut it into cubes. Steam on high heat for 10 minutes or until easily mashed with a fork. Get 150 grams of mashed sweet potatoes. While the mashed sweet potato is still hot, add the rest of the ingredients, except for water. Use a spatula to mix into a rough dough. When it's cool enough to handle, use your hand to knead into a smooth flexible dough. If the dough is too dry, add a bit of water, teaspoon by teaspoon until the dough comes together. If the dough is too wet, add a bit more glutinous rice flour until the dough comes together
Fill and shape:
Divide the dough into 14 equal pieces, roughly about 15 grams each
Flatten the dough into about 3-inch circle. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle. Put a piece of nian goa cube in the middle and wrap the dough around it and shape into a smooth round ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough and nian gao cubes. Keep them covered with a damp cloth or cling wrap to prevent drying out
If the dough becomes dry while you are working at filling and shaping, dab with a bit of water and roll them smooth again
If you want to coat them with sesame seeds, mix glutinous rice flour with water to make a runny paste. Coat each ball in the paste and then dip in the white sesame seeds. The seeds will stick to the balls and you won't lose them during the frying process
Frying:
Preheat oil over medium heat. If you put a chopstick or skewers into the oil and there are bubbles around it, the oil is too hot. Lower the heat and wait for 5 minutes. Fry the nian gao balls over low-medium heat. This is to prevent the balls from exploding. Keep rolling them around to fry them evenly, about 3 minutes or so. Once they float to the top you can increase the heat a bit so they have a nice golden brown color. Place on absorbent paper towel to remove excess oil