Muah Chee (Chinese Peanut Mochi)

Heat cooking oil in a small frying pan. Fry the shallots just till they are golden brown.

Remove the shallots from the oil using a spider skimmer and place them on a paper towel to allow them to crisp up.

Pour glutinous rice flour into a heat-proof bowl. Slowly drizzle water into the flour and stir until the batter is smooth and without any lumps.

Add 1 tablespoon of the shallot oil and a pinch of salt into the batter, then stir to combine.

After microwaving for 1 minute, stir the batter well, then return it to the microwave for another minute.

If parts of the batter are still undercooked (not translucent), continue microwaving in 15-second increments until it's fully cooked and forms a sticky ball.

Place the bowl with the batter in a steamer pot over your stovetop on medium-low heat. Cover the steamer and steam for 15 minutes

Remove from the steamer, and stir the dough until it forms a large ball.

Allow the dough to cool for about 10 minutes before adding the peanut topping.

Pour roasted peanuts, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds into a blender or food processor. If the roasted peanuts are unsalted, add a pinch of salt to this mix.

Use the Pulse feature on your blender to blitz the peanut topping mixture until the peanuts are finely chopped to a coarse sand texture. Be careful not to over-blend, as it will turn into peanut butter.

Pour the peanut mixture into a shallow bowl, then scoop some of the cooked dough and place it right on top of the peanut mixture.

Use a pair of scissors to cut the dough into bite size pieces.

Gently roll the small pieces of the dough in the peanut powder. You will notice that the glutinous rice dough is very sticky, but once mixed into the peanut and sugar mixture, the glutinous rice balls will be much more manageable and almost non-stick.

Top with crispy shallots and serve immediately.