The Balls That Bring Us Together: How to Make Tangyuan This Lantern Festival
Among other traditions, Lantern Festival is a time for eating tāngyuán (湯圓), small chewy balls of glutinous rice filled with an assortment of different pastes, and served in sweetened, starchy water. By far the most popular is the black sesame variety, though depending on where in China you are celebrating the official end of Spring Festival, you may encounter anything from fruit to red bean paste, chopped peanuts to osmanthus.
"Soup balls" (also more commonly known as yuánxiāo 元宵 in the north) are said to have been a popular snack since at least the Song dynasty (960-1279), and because of their round shape have become to signify family togetherness. It doesn't hurt that tangyuan sounds similar to "union" (团圆 tuányuán). As such, they are usually eaten at occasions that bring the family together, including weddings and Winter Solstice Festival (冬至 Dōngzhì).
Below you'll find an easy recipe for making your own rose flavored tangyuan, though once you've made the outer skin you can pretty much fill them with any you'd like.
What you’ll need (for a serving size of 12 tangyuan)
- 75g rose petal (or any variety of) jam (玫瑰酱 méiguī táng) (easy to get on almighty Taobao, or search 玫瑰酱 on your e-commerce platform of choice);
- 15g crushed roasted peanuts (熟花生碎 shú huāshēng suì);
- 8g pastry flour (熟糕粉 shú gāo fěn);
- 100g sticky rice flour (糯米粉 nuò mǐ fěn);
- Boiling water.
Instructions
- Mix the rose petal jam, crushed peanuts, and pastry flour into a sticky mixture for the filling. Divide into 12 evenly sized balls.
- Put the sticky rice flour into a separate bowl and gradually add boiling water while stirring until the mixture turns into a paste. Once cool enough, gently knead the paste. Don't over-knead or you'll press out all the air bubbles which make it bouncy.
- Take some dough, and create an indentation with your fingers. Spoon in some filling. Fold the dough over the filling to close, and roll until smooth.
- Boil a pot of water and add the tangyuan. Wait until the water is boiling again and then add a cup of cold water. Wait for the water to boil for a second time – once the tangyuan float, they’re ready for a journey to your stomach! Serve in a bowl with some of the boiling water.
This recipe is translated from Xiachufang.
READ: Why Lantern Festival is the "True" Chinese Valentine’s Day
Photo: choochoocachew.com
