5 from 26 votes
Eight Treasure Rice Pudding (Ba Bao Fan, 八宝饭)
Eight Treasure Rice Pudding features glutinous rice soaked overnight and mixed with sugar, then layered with a variety of dried fruits, nuts, and a red bean paste center. This Chinese dessert is steamed in a coconut oil-coated bowl to prevent sticking, resulting in a sticky and subtly sweet pudding with an attractive layered presentation. The mixture of textures from the chewy rice, the soft red bean paste, and the varied dried fruits and nuts provides complexity in both flavor and mouthfeel.
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Soak
8 hrs
Total Time
50 mins
Servings:
6
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
Chinese
Ingredients
For the rice
- 200 g glutinous rice about 1 cup, aka sticky rice, sweet rice
- 1 tablespoon white sugar or brown sugar
For the filling
- 3 tablespoon red bean paste or shop-bought version, see note 1, homemade
For the toppings (see note 3)
- 1 handful dried fruit e.g. jujube (Chinese dates), apricot, cranberry, raisins, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, etc, mixed
- 1 handful nut
You also need
- ½ teaspoon coconut oil or butter, neutral cooking oil
- honey for serving (optional)
Instructions
Soak the rice
- Rinse glutinous rice under running water. Put it into a bowl and top with water. Leave to soak overnight. Then drain well and mix with sugar.
Cup of Yum
Prepare the toppings
- Deseed and slice dried fruits if necessary. If using Jujube (Chinese dates), peanuts, lotus seeds or almonds, soak in water overnight to soften. Other dried fruits and nuts can be used directly without soaking.
Assemble the bowl
- Evenly coat a bowl with coconut oil (or butter, neutral cooking oil) to prevent sticking.
- Spread a layer of mixed dried fruit and nuts over the bottom of the bowl. Design a pattern if you wish.
- Lay half of the rice over the dried fruit and nuts. Shape the red bean paste into a flat circle (smaller than the bowl). Place it on top of the rice. Put in the rest of the rice and flatten it with a spoon.
- Pour in water just enough to level with the rice (Be very gentle to avoid pushing the rice around).
Steamed the pudding
- Place the pudding bowl into a steamer basket or onto a steamer rack. Fill the wok/pot with water. Leave to steam over medium heat for 50 mins. Don’t forget to check the water level in the wok/pot halfway through in case it dries out.
Serve the pudding
- After steaming, leave to cool for 10 mins or so. Then use a knife or spatula to gently run along the edge of the pudding to help separating. Place a serving plate over the bowl. Flip over then gently remove the bowl.
- The rice pudding tastes great both warm and at room temperature. Drizzle some honey when serving if you like a sweeter taste.
Store and reheat
- You can keep the rice pudding in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months (wrapped tightly with cling film after it cools completely).
- Steam for 10 minutes to reheat (defrost beforehand if frozen).
Notes
- You can use either smooth or chunky homemade red bean paste for the filling.
- Choose a colorful mix of dried fruits and nuts for visual interest, avoiding fresh fruits which may not hold up well in steaming.
- Some dried ingredients like jujube, peanuts, lotus seeds, or almonds benefit from soaking overnight to soften before assembly.