Fuchsia Dunlop'S Pumpkin Cakes (Nan Gua Bing)

1. 1

   Scoop up 1/3-ounce (10-gram) pieces of red bean paste and roll them into balls, dusting them with glutinous rice flour to prevent sticking. Set them aside. Peel the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds. Cut it into thick slices, put them in a dish in the steamer basket, and steam until completely tender. Set aside to cool.

2. 2

   Mash the pumpkin to a paste or blitz it in a food processor. Season with sugar to taste-pumpkins vary in their sweetness. When the pumpkin has cooled enough to handle, add 2 teaspoons cooking oil, then the glutinous rice flour in stages, mixing thoroughly to make a fairly stiff, putty-like dough that does not stick to your hands. You won't need to add water because the pumpkin itself is so juicy. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

3. 3

   Break off an apricot-sized lump of dough, about 1 ounce (35 grams). Roll it into a ball, then gently flatten it between your palms. Make an indentation in the center and press in a ball of red bean paste stuffing. Draw up the sides of the dough to enclose the stuffing completely. Roll it into a ball again, then flatten it into a disc about 1/2-inch (1 1/2-centimeter) thick. Repeat with the remaining dough and stuffing.

4. 4

   Heat the oil for deep-frying to 300u00b0 F (150u00b0 C). Fry the pumpkin cakes in batches over a medium flame for about 8 minutes, until golden. The oil should fizz around the cakes, but not too aggressively-you want them to cook slowly enough to melt the fat in the stuffing, and to avoid bursting them open. Serve hot.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.