Recipe: Deep-fried sweet rice balls dipped in a caramel glaze
Add a touch of Filipino flavour to your Christmas Day lunch menu.
You only need a handful of ingredients to make this easy sweet rice ball recipe.
Known as karioka, the Filipino/ Indonesian dish can be eaten as a snack or dessert. The popular street food, sold on skewers, is made from glutinous rice or rice flour, deep-fried, and then dipped in a caramel or sugar glaze.
The recipe was shared as part of Spekko Rice's campaign to celebrate the diverse culinary traditions from around the world.
You will go crazy for their version of Sweet Rice Balls.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups rice flour (made from 1½ cups Spekko Jasmine Long Grain White Rice)
- 2 cups shredded coconut
- ¾ cup coconut milk
- 1L of oil for frying
Bamboo skewers
For the glaze
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
1. Make the rice flour:
Pour the rice into a blender and blend until finely ground. Sieve the rice flour, then blend again to ensure there are no large pieces remaining.
2. Prepare the dough:
In a bowl, mix the rice flour, shredded coconut, and coconut milk together until a dough-like consistency forms. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon in size each.
3. Fry the rice balls:
Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Fry the dough balls until golden brown, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure they cook evenly. Once cooked, remove from the oil and drain on kitchen towels. Allow the balls to cool, then stick a bamboo skewer into each ball.
READ: Recipe: Delicious Japanese mixed rice
4. Make the glaze:
In a heavy-based pot, combine the sugar and water. Heat over medium-low heat, allowing the sugar to dissolve slowly without stirring. Ensure the mixture doesn’t begin to boil. Once the sugar dissolves, increase the heat to medium-high and allow the mixture to caramelise, swirling the pot occasionally for even cooking. When the caramel reaches a golden colour, remove it from the heat.
5. Glaze the rice balls:
Quickly pour the caramel over the fried rice balls, working quickly to prevent the caramel from hardening. Serve the glazed rice balls in a bowl.
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