Hello Kitty Red Bean Dumplings (凱蒂貓紅豆湯丸) for Chinese New Year

Do you enjoy Asian Style dessert dumplings (湯丸)?  Eating dessert dumplings is one of the “must-have” Chinese New Year tradition as the pronunciation of dumplings in Chinese represent the whole of the family, or the united of the family (團圓).  Many traditional Chinese New Year dishes represent good luck or some types of well wishes.  That’s because we all wanted to kick off the new year with a great start, don’t we?   



As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I want to pass on as many of the Chinese cultures and traditions to my kids as possible.  One of my favorite ways to pass on the traditions is through food.  To get them more interested, I often get them into the kitchen to cook with me.  As I was testing recipes last week, My Baby Girl joined me in the kitchen to create these adorable Hello Kitty Dumplings together.  If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my “recipe testing video”.   You might have noticed that the Kitties on the Instagram video had much bigger noses, and they looked more like piggies!  So, I made some adjustments for this week’s video tutorial to reclaim Kitty’s beauty!   



These dumplings turned out so adorable and delicious.  It was so much fun to make them together with my Kids.  If you haven’t done so, check out the video tutorial above for the step-by-step instructions.  In respond to many of my Dear Readers’ requests, I did a voice over on this video instructions instead of the usual captions-only format.  But by all mean, click on the “cc” button on lower right corner of the YouTube video for Close Captioning if you prefer.   



In my video tutorial, I included a few tips to make these cute dumplings.  So, be sure to turn up the volume and follow along! 



Last year, I shared with you the Black Sesame Dumplings with Ginger Syrup post.  (Please click here to get the recipe).  For these Hello Kitty Dumplings, I filled some with my homemade Red Bean Paste and left the remaining dumplings as plain.  I’ll post the homemade Red Bean Paste recipe below for your reference.  Or, you can also use canned/ready-made red bean paste from the Asian Supermarkets. 



I hope you enjoy today’s recipe and tutorial, stay tuned for more fun Chinese New Year Recipe next week!

Tools and Ingredients used:
Glutinous Rice Flour (Click here for more information)
Food Decorating Tongs/Tweezers (Click here for more information)
Organic Dried Red Beans (Click here for more information)
Ready Made Red Bean Filling (Click here for more information)
Wilton Edible Candy Marker (Click here for more information)

 


Hello Kitty Red Bean Dumplings (凱蒂貓紅豆湯丸):

Ingredients for the White and Yellow Dough:
8-ounce glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)
3/4 cup boiling water
a small amount of turmeric

Ingredients for Pink Dough:
4-ounce glutinous rice flour (糯米粉)
4 tablespoons boiling water
2 tablespoons of beet root natural coloring

Ingredients for the filling:
1 cup Red Bean paste, roll into balls (about 1 teaspoon each)
Here’s the link to the homemade recipe: http://utry.it/2013/06/how-to-make-azuki-red-bean-paste.html


To Prepare the White and Yellow Dough:
Place glutinous flour in a large bowl. While whisking with a fork, slowly add in the boiling water into the flour. Once the dough comes together and cool to handle, knead it until nice and smooth. Reserve a tablespoon of dough into a separate bowl and knead in a small amount of turmeric. Add more to adjust to your desire tone of yellow. Wrap the remaining white dough with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Set aside.

To Prepare the Pink Dough:
Heat water and beet root natural coloring until it comes to a boil. Place glutinous flour in a large bowl. While whisking with a fork, slowly add in the beet root mixture into the flour. Once the dough comes together and cool to handle, knead it until nice and smooth. Wrap the dough with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Set aside.

To Prepare the Hello Kitty Dumplings:
Lightly flour both hands and flatten a tablespoon of dough in your palm. Place a piece of red bean filling in the middle, pinch the edges to seal the dumpling. Gently roll dumpling in your palms to form a ball shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces and fillings.

Take a small piece of dough and shape it between your fingers to form a triangular shape. Dab the bottom of the triangle and attach it onto the side of the filled dumpling as the ear, repeat with the other side and the rest of the dumplings.

Take a tiny piece of yellow dough and form it into an oval shape. Slightly wet the middle of the dumpling and attach the nose onto the face. Repeat with the rest of the dumplings.
Take a small piece of the pink dough and roll into a small ball. Take another small piece and roll it 
into a log, then flatten it out to oval shape. With the back of a toothpick, slightly narrow the middle of the dough to create the bow shape. Then, make an indentation on both ends to make it more realistic. Slight wet the middle of the bow and attach the pink dough ball in the middle. Dab the back of the bow and attach it onto one side of kitty’s ear.

With an edible candy marker, draw on the eyes and whiskers.

To Assemble:
Bring a pot of water to a boil, cook the dumplings until they flow on top and water return to a boil. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon. Serve with ginger syrup (optional) and enjoy!
 
Amy’s Note: My kids like these dumplings as the way they are. But you can also serve these dumplings with the traditional Ginger Syrup and here is the recipe.

Ingredients for Ginger Syrup (姜茶):
4 1/2 cups water
3.3 ounce cane sugar 片糖 (or use 1/2 cup raw sugar)
3 oz. ginger (peeled and lightly mashed)
1 teaspoon sweet osmanthus 桂花 (optional)

To prepare the ginger Syrup:
In a medium pot, bring water and ginger to a boil. Then, add sugar and heat on low to simmer the syrup for 10-15 minutes. Taste to see if more sugar is needed. Set aside.