Toast and cool black sesame seeds: Dry-toast black sesame seeds in a skillet over medium-low heat. No oil is needed. Simply stir them around for 5 minutes or until nutty and fragrant, being careful not to scorch them. Transfer to a bowl to cool fully.

Make black sesame filling and roll into balls: In a small blender or a small food processor (or spice grinder – see note), pulse toasted sesame seeds until pulverized into the consistency of slightly damp sand. If a spice grinder was used, transfer into food processor or blender now. To the black sesame, add sugar and pulse repeatedly until well mixed. Add butter (along with a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter) and pulse again to combine. Add hot water and pulse repeatedly until mixture is homogenous. Scrape into a bowl. Place bowl in freezer for 15 minutes or until firm yet still soft enough to scoop out and roll into 10g balls (~2 tsp each). Place rolled balls on parchment-lined tray and freeze for 1 hour up to overnight. This step ensures the filling is very firm and much easier (and less messy!) to handle when forming the dumplings later.

Make the dough and rest 20 minutes: While filling balls chill, make the dough. Place glutinous rice flour in a bowl set over a wet towel to keep it from moving around. While streaming in the water, mix with the other hand to evenly incorporate. Once mixture begins to pull into a dough, use your hand to knead it into a smooth, pliable dough that is easy to handle but not at all sticky/wet or dry/crumbly. If dough is too wet, add more glutinous rice flour. If too dry, add sprinkles more water until it achieves the right consistency. The dough should feel almost like really fresh, soft playdoh. The great thing about glutinous rice flour is, in spite of its name, it does not contain gluten which means you can never “overhandle” the dough. Keep working it until it feels right. Cover well to prevent drying out. Rest 20 minutes. [Tip: as with any dough recipe, the exact amount of water needed depends on humidity, variability in measuring the flour, etc. Always start with less water and add sprinkles more until you get a smooth, pliable dough. Keep dough well covered with plastic wrap throughout the process to prevent drying out while cutting / rolling dumplings, etc. After resting the 20 minutes, I recommend using the dough pretty promptly. I’ve left the dough (well-wrapped in plastic) for a few hours and it becomes significantly wetter. If that does happen, simply knead in more glutinous rice flour until the dough feels soft but not at all sticky.]

Make ginger broth: Meanwhile, add water into a pot and bring it to a boil. Add ginger slices. Simmer 20 minutes. Add dark brown sugar (or yellow rock sugar or black sugar if using) and simmer until dissolved. Taste and add more as needed. The broth should be mildly sweet to compliment the sweet glutinous dumplings. Discard ginger slices. Set aside and keep warm. Ready a second pot of water to boil the dumplings.

Roll dough into ropes and cut into portions: When dough has rested, roll into 1” rope and cut into 12g pieces. It should make 22-24 pieces. Cover unused dough pieces well with plastic wrap or kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.

Form dumplings (also see step-by-step photos and video in the blog post): To form a dumpling, use your thumb to press a deep dimple in the center of the dough ball. Place filling ball inside dimple. While holding the filling ball in place with a thumb, use the thumb and index finger of the other hand (in the shape as if making the “okay” hand sign) to bring the dough up and around the filling ball, nudging and stretching gently up and around to fully seal at the top. Check for any holes where filling is showing through and push dough over to cover. Use palms to roll the dumpling smooth and round. Set finished dumplings on a clean, parchment-lined tray. Drape a kitchen towel over the finished dumplings while you work. Once they are done, cook or freeze right away. Leaving them out too long on the counter may result in cracks in the dough, which will lead to breakage and leakage during cooking. See Recipe Notes and tips for freezing. Avoid blemishing white dough with the fingers that touched black filling ball. It’s ideal to maintain the snowy white exterior.

Boil dumplings when ready to eat: To cook, bring the pot of water to a boil. Using a slotted spoon or long-handled colander, gently lower dumplings into the water. Adjust the temperature to maintain a constant boil (but not an aggressive boil) as we want to allow them to cook through and the sugar in the filling to dissolve well. Stir gently to prevent sticking. Once dumplings float to the top, cook 20 seconds more. Serve in warm ginger broth.