MANG 茻 VEGAN
Chinese New Year
Cookbook
About this cookbook
In 2022, the China Vegan Society launched an online campaign to veganize the most important dinner of the year with a Chinese New Year vegan recipe and food photo competition. Vegan chefs, bloggers, food brands, and home cooks across the country submitted their favorite recipes and filled their social media feeds with mouth-watering vegan holiday dishes suitable for any festive feast.
Sharing the diversity and creativity of China's vegan foods, industries, and people
After the campaign, we compiled their recipes into the MANG Vegan Chinese New Year Cookbook. Published in Chinese and English, this cookbook aims to inspire and celebrate China’s local vegan community and bring the Chinese and international vegan communities together. We hope this cookbook gives vegans around the world a chance to try new foods, expand their vegan horizons, and connect across cultures and borders.
We wish everyone a happy and healthy Chinese New Year! 新年快乐！
— The China Vegan Society
Keep scrolling to see recipes below
Table of Contents
Stuffed Persimmon and Mochi Skewers ...…........ 1
Sweet and Salty Dragon Eggplant .....……….…...... 2
Cabbage Rolls in Vegetable Stew ....………….…..... 3
Zucchini Tempeh Rolls ...…………….…………….......... 4
Pan-Fried Stuffed Morels ...…………………..……........ 5
Spring Garden Salad ...………………………………........ 6
Daring Durian Pastry .…………………...…………......... 7
Shepherd's Purse Wontons ...……………….……....... 8
Forest Feast Mushroom Stew ..……………….…....... 9
Stuffed Eggplant Lanterns ......………………..…....... 10
Savory Green Pepper "Chicken" .....….……….….... 11
Bodhi Rolls ....………………………………..……..……...... 12
"Fish" of Plenty ..………………………………………........ 13
Golden Tofu with Mushroom and Shiso ...…........ 14
Sticky Rice Pudding with Stuffed Morel .……….... 15
Lion's Mane Mushroom Steaks ....………….……...... 16
Sticky Rice Balls with Lotus Root ...…………...….... 17
The best remedy for cold winter nights is a family barbecue. Huddled around the charcoal grill, everyone chats and gets warm as they roast their favorite treats. This recipe was created by Tianshui Vegetarian Cuisine, a Michelin-starred Guangzhou restaurant specializing in seasonal plant-based food. These sweet, chewy skewers symbolize warmth and togetherness.
Ingredients
500ml water
120g brown sugar
500g glutinous rice flour
oil for deep frying
4 soft dried whole persimmons (stems removed)
toasted walnut halves
Toppings
brown sugar or maple syrup
sesame seeds
crushed toasted peanuts
dried osmanthus flowers (optional)
Directions
Prepare mochi: Boil water and brown sugar, reduce heat to medium and stir in 1/3 of the glutinous rice flour. Continue stirring while gradually adding remaining rice flour until it forms a dough. Knead dough until smooth, then divide into 8 balls. Deep-fry dough balls in medium-hot oil until golden and puffy. Set aside.
Prepare persimmons: Slice a hole in a dried persimmon big enough to stuff a few walnut halves inside, then close and roll tightly. Repeat with remaining persimmons. Place stuffed persimmons in 45°C oven for 2 hours to set.
Prepare skewers: Slice each persimmon roll in half. Skewer one persimmon half and one mochi ball on each skewer to make 8 skewers. Roast skewers over coals, drizzle with syrup and toppings, and serve!
Impress your friends with this showy but surprisingly simple dish! The rich sweet-salty sauce is the ultimate crowd pleaser. This recipe was created by Wu Xiang Song Vegan Kitchen, a unique vegan buffet serving tiny tapas-style dishes in Dali, Yunnan.
Ingredients
1 large long eggplant
water
100g cornstarch
oil for deep frying
2 tbsp finely diced red pepper
2 tbsp cooked corn kernels
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
Directions
Accordion-cut your eggplant: With a sharp knife, make diagonal slices 2/3 of the way through eggplant, each ~1cm apart. Turn eggplant over and repeat with diagonal slices in the opposite direction. The eggplant should pull open like an accordion. Run a skewer through eggplant to secure slices and prevent tearing.
Place cornstarch in large bowl and stir in water to make a thin batter. Coat eggplant evenly in batter. Do not discard leftover batter.
Heat a pot of oil to medium-high and deep fry eggplant until golden. Carefully lift the eggplant out, remove skewer, and arrange on a plate.
In a hot pan, mix soy sauce and sugar with a little water. Add red pepper and corn and bring to boil. Add a little starch batter and stir until thickened. Pour sauce over eggplant and serve immediately.
This recipe was created by HONA Organic, China’s leading organic vegan condiment brand. The fresh flavors of this dish are best complemented by high-quality additive-free soy sauce. If you can't find HONA’s organic soy sauce, choose a soy sauce with the shortest and cleanest ingredients list you can find.
Ingredients
200g carrot
100g red pepper
100g yellow pepper
150g cucumber
100g corn kernels
1 clove garlic (minced)
10 napa cabbage leaves
extra chopped vegetables (carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, etc) for soup
Seasonings
2 tbsp natural soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp camellia or olive oil
Directions
Prepare filling: Wash and dice carrots, peppers, and cucumbers. Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, then add chopped vegetables and sauté 1-2 minutes. Stir in cooking wine, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and vinegar and sauté 1 minute. Transfer cooked vegetables to a bowl.
Prepare cabbage leaves: Blanch cabbage leaves in boiling water until soft enough to roll. After blanching, immediately plunge cabbage leaves in cold water to prevent discoloration.
Wrap cabbage rolls: Place a cabbage leaf on a plate with inside facing up and stem pointing toward you. Spoon some filling into the center. Fold the bottom up first, then fold the left and right sides in, then roll all the way to the top. Secure with a toothpick to prevent unrolling.
Make soup: Spread remaining cabbage leaves and chopped veggies across the bottom of a soup pot, then lay cabbage rolls on top. Use more chopped vegetables to fill gaps between cabbage rolls. Cover veggies and cabbage rolls about 80% with water (they shouldn't be floating or completely submerged) and add 1 tbsp soy sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour.
Use tongs or chopsticks to lift cooked cabbage rolls out of the pot and place in soup bowls. Remove toothpicks from rolls. Pour a little stew over the rolls and serve.
These easy-to-make rolls pair dense, meaty tempeh with juicy fresh vegetables for a balanced, nutritious, and colorful side dish. This recipe was created by food blogger Vegan Lisa. Originally from Germany, Lisa has been living in China and promoting veganism on social media since 2018.
Ingredients
1 zucchini
2 tomatoes
200g tempeh
50g oyster mushrooms
50g enoki mushrooms
Seasonings
soy sauce
black pepper
basil
rosemary
oregano
thyme
marjoram
curry powder
Directions
Prepare ingredients: Use a mandolin or peeler to slice zucchini into thin strips, then sprinkle with pepper and curry powder. Cut tempeh into strips and season with soy sauce and pepper. Remove roots from enoki mushrooms and tear into small bundles. Tear oyster mushrooms into strips.
Cook ingredients: Preheat oven to 180°C. Arrange zucchini slices, tempeh, and mushrooms on a baking sheet and roast until golden.
Make tomato sauce: Dice tomato. Heat a pan, add tomato and salt, and sauté until tomatoes are soft. Mash tomatoes into sauce and add spices. Pour sauce into a deep plate.
Make rolls: Place 1 slice of tempeh and some mushrooms on each zucchini slice and roll tightly. Place rolls on top of tomato sauce and serve.
Many foods on the Chinese New Year table symbolize wishes for the new year. Stuffed morels don't just taste great—they also represent stuffed wallets! Make this dish to welcome a richer new year. This recipe was created by Vegan Life Restaurant, which serves traditional and fusion vegan cuisine in Changsha, Hunan.
Ingredients
10 large dried morels (cleaned and soaked)
80g asparagus
50g soy protein slices (soaked and drained)
red and yellow peppers
Seasonings
1 tbsp vegan pepper sauce
mushroom seasoning to taste
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp soy sauce
Directions
Prepare vegetables: Cut peppers into diamond-shaped slices (5 slices each). Peel asparagus and cut into 10cm lengths.
Prepare stuffing: Finely mince soy protein slices by hand or in a food processor. Stir in salt, pepper, mushroom seasoning, and cornstarch. Fill morels with stuffing
Cook and plate: Blanch asparagus until just tender, then arrange on plate as a base. Pan-fry morels on low heat with a little oil until fragrant and remove from pan. sauté pepper sauce with a little water until thickened, then place morels in the pan and coat with the hot sauce. Place morels on top of asparagus, drizzle with sauce, and serve.
On the Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese New Year falls a few days before the beginning of spring. It's still cold in most regions, so this salad welcomes spring with flowers made from sliced fruit. This recipe was created by Qingshu Bu Yong Deng, a popular vegan restaurant in Shanghai.
Ingredients
1 apple
1 mango
1 avocado
40g beetroot
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 pack of mixed salad greens (100g)
2/3 cup cooked quinoa (multicolor looks the best)
30g toasted mixed nuts (chopped)
3 cherry radishes (sliced)
3 cherry tomatoes (halved)
3 gherkins (optional)
Salad dressing
Blend until smooth:
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
Directions
Prepare dyed apple: Peel apple, cut in half, remove core, and place in a heat-proof bowl. Peel beetroot and puree with 300ml water. Pour beetroot puree over apple, sprinkle with brown sugar, steam for 10 minutes, and set aside to cool.
Prepare flowers: Cut avocado in half and remove pit and skin. Cut several thin slices of avocado and place them end-to-end on a cutting board, with ends overlapping each other. Carefully roll avocado slices together to make a flower. Repeat this with mango and apple to make 3 types of flowers.
Assemble salad: Place greens in a large salad bowl, then add quinoa, chopped nuts, flowers, radish slices, cherry tomatoes, and gherkins. Drizzle with salad dressing immediately before serving.
This coal-black pastry stuffed with the world's most notorious fruit is a perfect way to kick off a bold and adventurous new year. This recipe was created by Bliss of Nirvana, a creative vegan fine dining restaurant focused on seasonal themes and ingredients.
Ingredients
15g durian (fresh or frozen)
30g pastry flour
1 tsp vegan butter
edible activated charcoal powder
black sesame seeds
Directions
Prepare pastry: Combine flour, vegan butter, and a pinch of activated charcoal and mix well to make puff pastry dough. Roll dough and cut into a circle about 7 cm in diameter.
Prepare filling: Microwave the durian for 1.5 minutes on medium heat, then set aside to cool.
Prepare pastry: Preheat oven to 190°C. Wrap the cooled durian in the puff pastry in any shape you like, then dip into the black sesame seeds. Bake for 7-9 minutes until puff pastry is fluffy.
Rich with classic Shanghai flavor, these ingot-shaped wontons symbolize wealth, fulfillment, and ample food supply, bringing good fortune for the coming year. This recipe was created by Yan Ge Ge, a vegan hot pot buffet in Shanghai that specializes in Yunnanese wild mushrooms.
Ingredients
200g shepherd's purse
200g baby bok choy
200g bamboo shoots
100g dried shiitake mushrooms
50g Chinese pickled mustard stem (zha cai)
sesame oil
soy sauce
chili oil
sesame seeds
vegan wonton wrappers
Directions
Boil shepherd's purse and bok choy boiling water until half cooked, then squeeze out excess water. Finely chop the boiled greens, bamboo shoots, and pickled mustard stem and set aside.
Soak shiitake mushrooms and squeeze out excess water. Chop finely and lightly sauté with a little oil.
In a large bowl, toss chopped vegetables with 2g salt, 1g sugar, and 1 tsp sesame oil.
Wrap the filling in the wonton wrappers.
Place wrapped wontons in boiling water and boil until they float, about 5 minutes.
Place cooked wontons on a plate, sprinkle with soy sauce and sesame seeds, and serve.
This recipe was created by Wosan Yauso, a creative fusion vegetarian restaurant and art space in Shenzhen. Combining nine different kinds of mushrooms with different flavor profiles and medicinal properties, this stew warms and grounds you with its complex, earthy flavors. If you can't find these specialty mushrooms in your local supermarket, look for an online supplier.
Ingredients
1 small handful cordyceps mushrooms (dried or fresh)
1 napa cabbage heart (leaves separated and washed)
1/2 daikon radish (peeled and sliced)
1 handful enoki mushrooms
5g dried shiitake mushroom
1 fresh golden ear mushroom
1 dried veiled lady mushroom
1 porcini mushroom (fresh or dried)
3-4 morel mushrooms
1-2 lion's mane mushrooms (fresh or dried)
1 abalone mushroom
1 small piece fresh ginger root (sliced)
fresh cilantro to taste, 1 celery stick (sliced)
salt to taste
Directions
Prepare broth: Place cordyceps, napa cabbage, radish, and enoki mushrooms in a large pot of water and simmer until flavorful.
Prepare mushrooms: Wash all fresh mushrooms and soak all dried mushrooms. Dried lion's mane is bitter, so soak it separately from the others and change the water several times to remove bitterness. Leave all mushrooms whole.
Stew mushrooms: In a hot pan, sauté ginger and celery with cilantro until fragrant and add them to the pot. Put all mushrooms except the golden ear mushroom into the pot whole. Add salt and simmer on low heat for 1-5 hours.
Serve: Before serving, add golden ear mushroom and stir. Take all whole mushrooms out of the soup, slice, and distribute into serving bowls. Pour soup over mushrooms and serve.
Visual and hands-on, this lantern-shaped appetizer is a fun dish to make with kids. It's also a great way to get them to eat eggplant! This recipe was created by the food bloggers at VegPlanet, one of China's most diverse and widely-read vegan media platforms.
Ingredients
1 long eggplant (~5 cm in diameter)
100g soy protein slices
50g dried shiitake mushroom
50g vegan sausage
red chili peppers (for garnish)
50g ginger (minced)
20g ketchup
60g cornstarch
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
Directions
Prepare ingredients: Soak soy slices and mushrooms until soft, then squeeze out water. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut into 4 cm lengths. Put an eggplant piece on a cutting board with skin facing up. Make 3 crosswise slits at equal distances in the top of the eggplant, but don't cut all the way through. The slits should open like pages in a book. Repeat with remaining eggplant pieces.
Prepare stuffing: In a blender or food processor, grind soy slices, mushrooms, vegan sausage, ginger and salt until well-mixed.
Prepare sauce: Mix sugar, vinegar, and ketchup with a little water. Heat a pan, pour in sauce, and sauté until thickened.
Prepare stuffed eggplant: Open a sliced eggplant piece like a book and fill spaces with enough stuffing to create a round, even shape. Repeat with remaining eggplant pieces. Sprinkle cornstarch on top to keep stuffing in place during cooking. Bake, steam, or deep-fry stuffed eggplant pieces until eggplant is cooked through.
Plate and serve: Arrange cooked stuffed eggplant lanterns end-to-end on a plate. Place a chili pepper slice between each lantern, with a "tassel" of thinly sliced pepper at the end of the last lantern. Drizzle with sauce and serve.
Created by Kneads in Cravings, a catering company in Shanghai, this homestyle dish is delicious and versatile. It's a great accompaniment to a holiday table, but simple enough to be a quick dinner any time of the year.
Ingredients
200g plant-based chicken (chunks or patties)
150g green pepper
150g red onion
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 tablespoon grated ginger
sliced or chopped green onion (garnish)
Sauce
Mix together in a bowl:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp warm water
Directions
Cut the plant-based chicken, onion, and pepper into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan or wok on medium heat and sauté the plant-based chicken until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Then put the minced garlic, ginger, green pepper, onion and bell pepper into the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the plant-based chicken and mix well. Turn the heat to high, add the sauce, and stir-fry for 1 or 2 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Sprinkle with chopped green onion and serve.
This dim-sum-inspired recipe is rich with herbs and spices. If you don't want to buy all the spices individually, you can substitute Chinese five-spice or 13-spice powder. This recipe was created by Vege Tiger, a Chinese fusion vegan buffet with several branches in Beijing.
Ingredients
1 package bean curd skin (fresh or dried)
100g gluten or soy protein slices (fresh or pre-soaked)
150g shiitake mushrooms (fresh or pre-soaked)
150g bamboo shoots
100g carrots
150g enoki mushrooms
Seasonings
4 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp dark soy sauce
granulated sugar
white pepper powder
star anise
cinnamon stick
bay leaf
fennel seed
vegetable oil
20g sliced fresh ginger
1 cup water or vegetable stock
Directions
Prepare ingredients: Separate layers of bean curd skin into twos and cover with a clean damp cloth to keep them soft. Slice mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and carrots into thin shreds. Remove roots from enoki mushrooms.
Prepare marinade: In a pot or wok, heat vegetable oil, add ginger slices, and sauté. Add star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, and fennel seed and continue sautéing. Add stock/water, dark and light soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper powder, simmer 15 minutes, and set aside to cool.
Marinate ingredients: Tear protein slices into shreds, sprinkle with a little dark soy sauce, bake or air-fry until they start to brown, then soak them in marinade for a few minutes, drain, and set aside. Put bean curd skin into marinade to soak for a few minutes.
Prepare filling: In a hot pan, sauté vegetables and marinated protein slices with ginger until slightly softened. Add a sprinkle of soy sauce, a pinch of sugar, and a dash of white pepper. Remove from pan and set aside to cool.
Prepare rolls: Place a double layer of marinated bean curd skin on a flat surface. Put a little filling in the middle and roll like a spring roll: fold the bottom edge up, then fold left and right sides in, then roll all the way to the top. Repeat with remaining bean curd sheets.
Place bodhi rolls on a heat-proof plate and pour a little marinade overtop. Place in a steamer and steam for 7 minutes.
In Chinese, the word for "fish" sounds the same as "surplus", so no Chinese New Year dinner is complete without a whole fish to symbolize a year of plenty. Luckily, it's easy to make this traditional dish without harming any fish! This recipe was created by Pure Vegan Tea, a much-beloved Beijing restaurant that unfortunately closed in 2022.
Ingredients
1 whole vegan mock fish (or 200-300g of tofu, tempeh, etc)
1/2 cup cornstarch
20g diced shiitake mushrooms
20g shelled edamame
20g diced carrots
20g diced yellow pepper
Sauce
Mix in a bowl:
2 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sour plum juice (or unsweetened apple juice)
3 tbsp sugar
minced hot pepper or chili sauce to taste
Directions
Prepare mock fish: Slice the mock fish, coat slices in cornstarch, and deep-fry or pan-fry until crispy. Lay a bed of lettuce or curly endive leaves on a plate and arrange the mock fish slices on top. (Oil-free version: arrange sliced mock fish on a plate and steam).
Prepare sauce: Blanch vegetables in boiling water, drain, and set aside. Heat a pan and add the vegetables and sauce. sauté until thickened.
Pour sauce over mock fish and serve.
This recipe was created by GENBEN, a Shenzhen-based specialty food brand focused on healthy and functional plant-based foods. The recipe uses for bao jiang tofu, a Yunnanese specialty of tofu cubes that are firm on the outside and runny on the inside. If you can't find this, substitute medium-firm tofu. The soul of this dish is Cantonese fermented black bean sauce, which you can find in the Asian food section of many supermarkets.
Ingredients
200g bao jiang tofu (or cubed medium-firm tofu)
10g dried mushrooms (chanterelle, porcini, or shiitake)
5g kombu
1/4 cup chopped fresh shiso leaves
5g sliced fresh ginger
2 tbsp fermented black bean sauce
1 tsp ground fresh ginger
2 tbsp carrot or beet puree (optional, for garnish)
Directions
Mushroom sauce: soak the mushrooms and kombu until soft. In a hot pan, sauté sliced ginger, add 1 tbsp black bean sauce and stir, then add 3 tbsp water, and simmer until thickened.
Shiso sauce: Heat a pan, sauté ground ginger, add 1 tbsp black bean sauce and stir, then add 3 tbsp water, and simmer until thickened. Stir in the chopped shiso last.
Pan-fry tofu until golden and crispy. Place on a plate and spoon a little of each sauce on top. Garnish the plate with carrot or beet puree (if using).
This dish was created by Qian Yue Ming, a well-known vegetarian fine dining restaurant in Chongqing, southwestern China. The secret ingredient of this comforting dish is mountain yam, a taro-like tuber. Sticky when raw and fluffy when cooked, mashed mountain yam is the vegan egg replacer you've never heard of!
Ingredients
100g steamed glutinous rice
2 morel mushrooms (soaked)
1 tsp coconut oil
20g raw mountain yam (peeled and mashed into paste)
2 tbsp brown sugar syrup (or maple syrup)
Directions
While rice is hot, add syrup and coconut oil and stir until evenly mixed.
Simmer morels in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain, and cool. Stuff morels with yam paste and set aside.
With wet hands, take half of the sweetened sticky rice, flatten it gently, place a stuffed morel in the center, wrap it completely in sticky rice, and gently press it into a small heat-proof cup or bowl to hold shape during steaming. Repeat with the remaining rice and stuffed morel.
Place puddings in a steamer and steam for 40 minutes. Turn them out over a plate and serve.
Recently touted as a brain-boosting superfood in the west, lion's mane mushrooms (known in China as “monkey head mushrooms”) have long been prized in Chinese vegan cuisine for their meaty, fibrous texture. If you can't find fresh lion's mane in the supermarket, search for a specialty mushroom supplier in your area. This recipe was created by Seven-Colored Cloud, a well-known vegan restaurant in Guangzhou, Guangdong.
Ingredients
1 large fresh lion’s mane mushroom
3-4 slices of ginger
1 cherry tomato (sliced, for garnish)
Seasonings
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil
1 sprig fresh rosemary (chopped)
coarse sea salt to taste
your favorite steak sauce (optional)
Directions
Prepare mushroom: Wash mushroom and blanch in hot water with ginger for 5 minutes. Change the water and boil again for 8 minutes. Rinse mushrooms with cold water, squeeze to drain, and set aside.
Sprinkle coriander, black pepper, 1 tbsp olive oil, chopped rosemary, and a pinch of rock salt over mushrooms, toss to coat, and marinate for 10 minutes.
Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, add seasoned mushroom, and press flat with a spatula. Fry until golden, then flip and fry on the other side until golden. Plate, garnish with tomato slices a sprig of rosemary, add sauce (if using), and serve.
This recipe was created by Piglet's Veggie Magic, one of China’s most popular vegan food blogs. With their harmonious round shape and sticky texture, these classic rice balls symbolize happiness and unity. Serve these on Chinese New Year to celebrate time together with loved ones.
Ingredients
50g glutinous rice
500g lotus root
3 tofu puffs
1/2 carrot
2 shiitake mushrooms (dried or fresh)
8g ginger
1/2 king oyster mushroom
1/2 half porcini mushroom (dried or fresh)
2 tbsp oat flour or sweet potato flour
cilantro to taste
Seasonings
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp soy sauce
sea salt to taste
1 tsp vegan oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
cornstarch
Directions
Soak glutinous rice overnight.
Dice mushrooms (soak any dried mushrooms first). Finely chop carrot and ginger. Tear tofu puffs into pieces.
In a hot pan, sauté ginger and carrot in olive oil, add diced mushrooms with a pinch of salt, and sauté until mushrooms become juicy and begin to brown. Stir in torn tofu puffs and set aside.
Peel lotus root, grate into fine shreds with a food grater, and squeeze out excess water. Put shredded lotus root in a bowl, add the fried vegetables and spices, and mix well. The mixture should be sticky enough to form into balls.
Prepare batter: Stir 4 tbsp cornstarch into 1 cup water. Microwave for 1-2 minutes (or boil in a pot) until thickened. Set aside.
Take handfuls of the mixture and roll into walnut-sized balls. Drain the soaked rice and pour onto a plate. Dip a ball in starch batter, then roll it in rice until evenly covered. Repeat with remaining balls.
Place rice-coated balls on a plate that's been lined with lettuce leaves or brushed with oil to prevent sticking. Steam for 25 minutes, or until rice is tender.