Sweet Potato Dumplings with Fennel Pollen

Melody of GourmetFury.com is a food and travel writer by day, wine and cocktail ninja by night.  She is the fire behind Vancouver Food Tour, can be found on Twitter, and will hopefully be back here again some day.

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Sweet Potato Dessert Dumplings with Fennel Pollen and Ginger

I dedicate this dessert to my mom.

Sweet potato holds a special place in her heart. Whenever she eats it, she retells how my grandfather would sometimes cook sweet potato in with their rice when she was little. During the war, rice was scarce and people scrounged for anything that could fill their stomachs. The luckier ones dug up sweet potatoes while the less fortunate were left with tree bark. Although my mom and her siblings did not experience the war, my grandfather continued to feed his family sweet potatoes to remind his children to be thankful always.

One of my mom’s favourite desserts is sweet potatoes simply cooked in a light ginger syrup. She and I also love another traditional Chinese dessert called “tong-yuen” in Cantonese (湯圓/湯丸), or literally “spheres in soup”. They are bite-size glutenous rice dumplings filled with a sweet paste made with savory ingredients such as black sesame, peanut, or red bean. They are served floating in a silky and sweet soup made from ground nuts (almond, walnut, peanut…), in the ginger syrup mentioned above, or rolled in crushed nuts and sesame.

Inspired by my mom, I combined her favourites to create a comforting dessert for this month’s Battle Sweet Potato. In brief, I mashed the purple sweet potato into a smooth paste, added fresh ginger juice, wrapped it in glutenous rice dough, cooked it, rolled it in crushed nuts, and sprinkled on some fennel pollen for fun.

Notes:

Purple sweet potato is prettier and often sweeter but use whatever you have on hand.

Fennel pollen provides a distinct floral aroma, coaxes out the ginger’s zing, and adds another dimension to the potato’s starchy sweetness. I also love to mix it with honey and drizzle it on top of toast, ice cream, cheesecake, and fruit. Marx Foods offers a high quality one that’s worth every penny.

Sweet Potato Dessert Dumplings with Fennel Pollen and Ginger

Ingredients

Ginger Sweet Potato Filling
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed. Approx 200 g (6 oz)
• 1/4 cup ginger juice
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tbs butter, softened
• 1 pinch of salt

Dough
• 200 g glutenous rice flour (7 oz) and more for dusting
• cold water

Topping
• 1/2 cup of your favourite nuts, crushed finely with a rolling pin (peanut, almond, cashew…)
• 1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• fennel pollen

Directions

Filling:

Steam the sweet potato cubes until very tender, around 15 minutes. Alternately, microwave it with some water on high for 5-10 minutes, stirring midway through. Mash the sweet potato into a paste with the remaining ingredients. Pass it through a colander to remove any lumps and fibres. Wrap and chill in the fridge.

Dough:

Combine the rice flour and 1/4 cup of cold water in a large bowl. Gradually add more water until the dough forms a ball that releases cleanly from the bowl. Knead and punch the dough for 5 minutes. The dough is ready when your fist leaves a solid imprint. Keep covered.

To form the dumplings:

Dust your hands with flour. Pinch off a piece of dough the size of a large grape and roll it into a ball. Flatten it and fill it with 1-2 tsp of filling. Seal the edges tightly while squeezing out air and roll the dumpling back into a sphere. Place onto a pre-dusted baking sheet.

The dumplings can be frozen and stored for 1 month.

To assemble:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the dumplings in and add cold water if necessary to maintain a soft boil. Meanwhile, combine the crushed nuts, sesame, and sugar and place onto a plate.

Once the dumplings float, drain them, plop them onto the nut mixture and roll them until they are fully coated. Fresh dumplings should only take 2-3 minutes to cook while frozen ones will take a few minutes longer.

To serve:

Place the dumpling balls onto spoons or dessert dishes. Sprinkle on fennel pollen and serve immediately.

Makes 2 dozen.

I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as my mom did! What’s the best food-related story your parents or grandparents have ever told you?

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