Purple Sweet Potato Sesame Balls (Matuan/Jian Dui) Recipe

Authentic Chinese cuisine is mostly known for its savoury dishes. However, our range of dishes also includes sweets, like the Matuan sesame balls in this recipe. Made from natural ingredients with minimal processed sugars, these little doughy delights make for a perfect snack for any occasion. They’re even great for children when they’re getting sweet tooth cravings.

In this article, we are going to show you how to make a purple sweet potato-based Matuan with Adzuki bean paste stuffing. Purple is both mine and my daughter’s favourite colour. Since there is a saying: “we eat with our eyes first”, this is the perfect recipe to satisfy both our eyes and stomachs. Of course, if it’s not easy to find purple sweet potatoes, you could always replace them with regular sweet potatoes, although the amount of sticky rice flour you put in may vary depending on how much water the sweet potatoes contain. It might take a few tries for you to get it right but eventually, it will happen.

What are Sweet Potato Sesame Balls (Matuan/Jian Dui)?

Matuan (麻团 má tuán) also commonly called Jiandui (煎堆 jiān duī) is a classic Chinese pastry made from sticky rice flour and coated with sesame seeds. It is usually fried and sometimes have bean paste stuffing. These little mouthfuls of joy are commonly seen during Chinese New Year meals to represent fortune as well as the wish for many newborns to arrive in the coming year.

What is the History of Jian Dui?

The origins of Matuan (or Jian Dui) can be traced back to as far as the Tang Dynasty. It was often part of the food and banquets served in the palace and have also been found in parts of a poem by Wang Fanzhi. As people migrated from the northern regions, the recipe for Jian Dui was brought down to the south, making these sweet balls a staple of the entire country today.

What are the Ingredients for Jian Dui?

To make our purple sweet potato sesame balls, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Adzuki beans 200g
• Dark soft cane sugar 4 tbsp
• Purple sweet potato 371g
• Icing sugar 4 tbsp
• Sticky rice flour 73g
• White sesame seeds 50g

How to Make Jian Dui/Matuan

Prep time for making Jian Dui is quite long but your patience will be greatly rewarded once you take your first bite. There are three stages to this recipe.

Stage 1: Make the adzuki bean paste

1. Start by washing the adzuki beans them soak them overnight in a container
2. Boil them in a pot or pressure cooker with double the amount of water you used to soak them
3. Blend the boiled beans with 4 tbsp of dark soft cane sugar
4. Pour mixture in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until it’s sticky
5. Set aside to cool

Stage 2: Make the purple sweet potato dough

1. Wash and peel your sweet potatoes then cut them into thick pieces
2. Steam the chunks in a steamer for 15 minutes
3. Mash potatoes in a container and mix with 4 tbsp of icing sugar and 73g of sticky rice flour
4. Kneed the mixture into a dough and set aside for 30 minutes

Stage 3: Assemble the sesame balls

1. Take about 25g of the dough and flatten in your hand by pressing down with your thumb
2. Scoop about 2-3g of the bean paste in the centre of the dough
3. Form and roll into a ball until smooth. Repeat until you have used all your dough and paste.
4. Roll the balls in container with sesame seeds and press them gently in to stick
5. Fry in vegetable oil over low heat. Flip over and ensure they’re evenly fried before taking out
6. Place on cooling rack and let cool before serving

Purple Sweet Potato Sesame Balls (Matuan/Jian Dui) Recipe

Recipe by LinCourse: SweetsCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

hours 

Cooking time

2

hours 

This recipe shows you how to make delicious purple sweet potato sesame balls, also called matuan or jian dui, a staple Chinese sweet delight.

Ingredients

• Adzuki beans 200g

• Dark soft cane sugar 4 tbsp

• Purple sweet potato 371g

• Icing sugar 4 tbsp

• Sticky rice flour 73g

• White sesame seeds 50g

Directions

• Adzuki bean paste
• To make the bean paste, we need to wash the Adzuki beans first.
• Soak them overnight in a container.
• Put double the amount of water to boil them until soft and mushy. I used the Pressure King Pro’s stew function.
• Take the beans out (I usually leave some beans in the soup and just drink it during the day, or heat it up for breakfast the next day. You could add in some milk and sugar or sweetener of your choice to add a bit of flavour to it.)
• Put the boiled beans and 4 tbsp of dark soft cane sugar in your blender, mix well.
• Pour the mixed beans into a saucepan, keep stirring the bean paste with medium heat until it is sticky. If you scoop it up it will stay on your spatula.
• Set it aside to cool.
• Purple Sweet Potato Dough
• Wash and peel roughly 371g purple sweet potatoes.
• Cut them into thick pieces and place them in your steamer. I steamed for around 15 mins, but you may need shorter or longer depending on your steamer and your sweet potatoes. The trick is to use a fork or chopsticks, if you could poke through the sweet potatoes effortlessly, that means they are ready to come out.
• Transfer them into a big container, mash, and mix them well with 4 tbsp of icing sugar as well as 73 sticky rice flour.
• After well mixed, it should allow you to kneed the mixture into a dough. If it is still too wet, you could add a bit more sticky rice flour. Set the dough aside to rest for 30 mins.
• Make the Matuan balls
• Take around 25g of the well-rested purple sweet potato dough, flatten it with your palms, press the centre down with your thumb.
• Scoop around 2-3g (more if you are comfortable closing the ball when you are more experienced) bean paste and place it in the centre.
• Let it sit in the circle formed by your thumb and index finger, slowly pushing the side dough to the top well gently pressing down the stuffing.
• Sort it to a smooth ball once closing the dough. I usually just create a little space between my palms and let the ball roll around in it until smooth.
• I weighed my purple sweet potato balls, and each of them is roughly 27g.
• Put 50g white sesame seeds in a big container, wet your hands with fresh water, rub evenly on the purple sweet potato balls, toss them in the sesame container and do a circular motion until you can see the sesame seeds are evenly coated on the balls.
• Heat up some vegetable oil in your cooking pot with low heat (around 120-150°C). Gently press the sesame seeds again before placing the Matuan balls in the cooking oil. Make sure the balls are evenly fried but remember not to flip them all the time, otherwise the sesame seeds will come off (learned from mistake).
• Take them out and place them on a cooling rack to drain the excess oil before serving.
• This would be a great addition to your Chinese dinner menu, try it out and let us know how do you like it. Enjoy! 请慢用 (qǐng màn yòng).

Try It Yourself!

And there you have it! This is how you can make your very own purple sweet potato matuan/jiandui. If you give this recipe a go, be sure to post it on Instagram and tag us at @linschinesekitchen.

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