Sweet Endings: Irresistible Rice Dishes to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Rice is an ingredient that can be turned into a feast with as little as 2 additional ingredients.

When it comes to sweet rice dishes, no one beats Asian cuisine. It’s only natural that it is so; after all, the Chinese were enjoying rice delicacies before other cultures even emerged.

A common, simple, sweet rice dish that has spread across the planet and is being enjoyed by a multitude of cultures is rice pudding.

It’s made by cooking rice in milk and adding sugar to taste. Easy yet perfect, this dish is a prime example of how simple it is to make sweet rice dishes. Basically, all you need is some rice cooked with sugar or additional sweetener. The rest is up to your imagination!

Due to its high starch content, rice can be made into anything from balls to pudding, so you can get as creative as you want.

However, it’s advisable to take it from experts — the Chinese and the Japanese, specifically— who use sticky (glutinous) rice and, more commonly, glutinous rice flour to prepare a multitude of delicacies.

Anyhow, here are our top picks.

Tang Yuan

Tang Yuan, a.k.a. sweet sticky rice balls are made of glutinous rice flour and water. As a general rule, glutinous rice flour is always mixed with the common rice flour (otherwise, it’d be too sticky to eat).

To prepare it, combine glutinous rice flour (1/3) and rice flour (2/3) with water. Let sit for at least half an hour. Knead and roll into a dough, then cut into small slices (use gloves — glutinous rice is called sticky for a reason).

Roll into round leaves and fill with a sweet filling of your choice. Pinch off a small piece of dough and flatten it in the palm of your hand.

Place ca. 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of the dough. Enclose the filling by pinching and sealing the edges of the dough. Roll it into a round ball.

Common Chinese fillings include red bean paste and black sesame paste, but peanut paste will also do the trick. Feel free to include your favorite choice.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the Tang Yuan into the boiling water. Be careful so that the balls don’t break. Stir gently to prevent the Tang Yuan from sticking to the pot.

Cook until the balls float to the surface (it usually takes anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes, but do keep an eye on the pot).

Cherry Rice Cheesecake

Did you know that cheesecake can be made with rice?

Live and learn!

One of our favorite picks is cherry rice cheesecake, which combines white rice, cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla.

It uses cherry topping for the cherry on top.

Ba Bao Fan

Bao Fan, a.k.a. the Eight Treasure Rice, is a traditional Chinese dessert made with glutinous rice. It’s not fast to make but it is a treasure trove indeed. It’s typically made for Lunar New Year and can turn any celebration into a feast.

Ingredients:

Rice:

• 2 cups glutinous rice
• Water for soaking

 The 8 fillings (eight treasures):

•         Red bean paste
•         Lotus seeds
•         Dried longan
•         Goji berries
•         Walnuts, chopped
•         Almonds, chopped
•         Dried jujubes (Chinese red dates), chopped
•         Black sesame seeds

The brown sugar syrup:

•         1 cup water
•         1 cup brown sugar

Instructions:

Rinse the glutinous rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in water for at least 4 hours (overnight is fine).

Drain the rice. Line a steamer basket with cheesecloth and the rice on the cloth. Steam it over high heat until it becomes soft and sticky (ca. 30-40 minutes).

Chop the dried longan, walnuts, almonds, and dried jujubes. Mix the chopped ingredients, lotus seeds, goji berries, black sesame seeds, and red bean paste.

Assemble the Ba Bao Fan:

While the steamed glutinous rice is still warm, transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Add the prepared filling to the glutinous rice. Mix well until the filling is evenly distributed.

Form the rice cake by transferring the mixture into a square dish lined with plastic wrap. Press down firmly to create a cake.

Make the syrup by combining water and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool.

Once the rice cake has cooled, cut the Ba Bao Fan into slices. Drizzle each slice with the syrup before serving.

Where to Next?

If you’re planning to make rice sweets but have no idea where to start, it’s always safe to turn to Chinese and Japanese cuisines for ideas. However, what people often forget is that there’s so much more to Asian cuisine than those coming from these 2 countries.

Thai recipes, for example, offer a unique experience as they typically combine sweet ingredients in ways that Western cuisines aren’t familiar with. Coconut milk is a common ingredient, so if you’re a fan, do give Thai cuisine a chance.

Or, try Xôi (Vietnamese sticky rice) recipes, which come in various colors and also use coconut milk as a chief ingredient.

Finally, keep in mind that glutinous rice can be used for salty dishes. Turn to Asian cuisines for ideas; there are plenty!