Name: Stuffed Sticky Rice Balls (Zi Fantuan)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup sticky rice (glutinous rice); 1/2 cup white rice; 1.5 cup water; 2 pieces Chinese fried oil stick (油条); 1 cup pork sung (肉松); half Takuan radish ( , or 1/2 Chinese preserved vegetables); toasted black sesame seeds

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A customized Shanghai style stuffed sticky rice balls-Zi Fan (滋饭团).

Last week, I have spent over 1 hour in the queen for a good breakfast in a pop star famous Shanghai style breakfast chain restaurant, selling Chinese Youtiao, Shaobing, Fantuan, fresh soy milk and tofu pudding. Even the price is relatively high, but it has an unbelievable popularity. The rice balls (fantuan) with pork floss is charged for 22 RMB in Chongqing, which equals almost 4 bowls of Chongqing Xiaomian noodles. One breakfast in this restaurant equals one-week breakfast at street breakfast stores. But high price cannot stop our love. We love their style and how each product is endowed with emotion and memory.

The most appealing idea for me is the stuffed sticky rice balls (糯米饭团) with fried oil stick, pickles and meat sung. It is really a great combination because the taste and texture is so rich in every bite. Instead of using Chinese preserved vegetables, I use Takuan as a substitute. And it comes out quite good. Any crispy pickles can play a good role in this recipe including this soy sauce and vinegar pickled cucumber{酱(jiàng)黄(huáng)瓜(guā)}.

Ingredients

1 cup sticky rice (glutinous rice)
1/2 cup white rice
1 1/2 cup water
2 pieces of Chinese fried oil stick (油条)
1 cup pork sung (肉松), homemade or store-bought
half Takuan radish or 1/2 Chinese preserved vegetables (榨菜)
toasted black sesame seeds

Instructions

There are two ways you can prepare the rice, one is simply cooking with a rice cooker or steam with a steamer. The later method produce chewier grains.

Cook rice: add white rice, sticky rice and water in a rice cooker, choose rice procedure.

Steam the rice: Pre-soak sticky rice and white rice in clean water in the previous day and then drain.Set up a steamer with a clean cloth, then spread the rice evenly and steam for 20 minutes.

Prepare side ingredients: Cut Takuan into long strips (around 1 cm in thickness) and then fry or toast the oil stick until they become crispy again.

Assemble: Place plastic wrapper on a sushi rolling mat, sprinkle some toasted black sesame seeds and then scoop out 1/2 of the rice and flatten into a thin layer. The rice can be quite sticky, so wet your hands when assembling.

Spread a layer of pork sung and then two strips of Takuan on the two ends. Place one oil sticky in center and then roll up the filling in the center of the mat. Slightly press the roll. Repeat to finish the other half. Then take the mat off and cut the roll in half (with plastic wrapper on).

Enjoy your breakfast!