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Black sesame paste

Black sesame paste

芝麻糊
Ground and cookedBeansServed hotWeekendFor guestsGood reheatedMediumhands-on 30 min · start to finish 1 hr 30 min

“Grind it fine, cook it slow. No hurrying.”

Ingredientsserves 4

百子櫃Black sesame150 g
雜貨舖White rice· soaked an hour; it is what thickens the paste40 g
百子櫃Rock sugar· or to taste110 g
百子櫃White sesame· optional, for fragrance1 tbsp

Equipment

  • A blender that will run two to three minutes
  • A muslin bag or fine sieve for straining

Method

  1. Rinse the rice and soak it in water for an hour. Put the sesame in a bowl of water and let it stand eight minutes so any grit sinks, then lift the seeds off the top and drain.
  2. Toast the sesame in a dry wok over low heat, stirring without stopping, about five minutes, until it smells nutty and a seed pressed between the fingers is dry and crisp. Never let it smoke: burnt sesame is bitter and there is no fixing it.
  3. Blend the toasted sesame, the soaked rice and four cups of water (1 litre) at high speed for two to three minutes, until it is a grey-black milk with no grit.
  4. Strain through a muslin bag or fine sieve, pressing well. The 糖水舖 always strains; many families skip it and accept a little texture.
  5. Pour into a pot over low heat and cook, stirring the bottom with a wooden spoon the whole time, ten to fifteen minutes, until the rice starch thickens it to a paste that coats the spoon. Too much heat and it catches; stop stirring and it lumps. If it is thin, it is short of rice or of cooking time; do not rescue it with cornflour slurry, which turns it grainy and grey.
  6. Add the rock sugar, stir until dissolved and serve hot. It thickens as it cools; thin with hot water when reheating. At 冬至, small unfilled glutinous rice balls go in for 芝麻糊湯丸.

Take care

  • Contains sesame, a mandatory-declaration allergen in Australia.
  • A paste spits hot as it thickens; keep stirring and keep back from the pot.

The story

芝麻糊 is the first of the three 糊 and the sound of the 糖水舖: the stone mill grinding sesame in the shop window is what 生磨 on a menu still promises. At home it was ground in the family's small stone mill and later the blender, and the child's job was to stand at the pot and keep stirring.

Same wall

Almond-kernel paste

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.