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Tangyuan is a popular Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour and can be filled with a variety of sweet or savory fillings. It is traditionally served during holidays and represents happiness and family togetherness. It can be easily made at home and is typically eaten with a sugary syrup.
A very popular dessert in China, tangyuan consists of filled or unfilled balls made from glutinous rice flour. These chewy dumplings are a very popular snack and are eaten in large numbers during holidays. They are traditionally served during the Lantern Festival and Dong Zhi, which marks the arrival of winter. Also served during Chinese New Year, Tangyuan can be found with a large variety of exotic fillings. Mass-produced versions of this dessert can also be found in the frozen food sections of supermarkets in parts of Asia.
The word itself translates as round balls in soup and was formerly known as yuanxiao. According to legend, this name was changed to tangyuan because the word sounded something like “remove the yuan”. The ruler in the early 10s was named Yuan Shikai, so the change was made to avoid offense. This dessert is still called by its original name in parts of northern China.
This traditional food has a lot of meaning to many Chinese people. For many, it represents happiness and symbolizes family togetherness. The round shape of the dumplings and the bowls they are served in is thought to have contributed to its significance. Normally eaten together with family members, this once-festive food is an everyday dessert for many Chinese, both locally and overseas.
Made with a chewy dough made from glutinous rice flour, this dessert is also served as an offering to the gods. While it’s typically eaten with a sugary syrup, it can also be found in soup and eaten as part of the main course. Stuffed rice balls can have sweet or savory fillings. The different types of sweet fillings found are ground peanuts with sugar, candy cane sugar, and osmanthus flowers. The most common sweet filling is sesame paste made from black sesame seeds, sugar and lard.
Cashews, chestnuts, pecans and almonds can be used in place of sesame. The nuts are roasted, ground and mixed with sugar and lard to make the filling. Bean pastes such as red adzuki are also popular. Some exotic fillings include rose petals, jujube paste, and tangerine peel that has been sweetened. Salty tangyuan is made with fillings such as pork or other types of minced meat or vegetables or a mixture of the two.
It can be easily made at home in less than half an hour. The dough is made by mixing water with glutinous rice flour and plain rice flour. Cooks knead the mixture until the dough becomes less sticky.
Colored tangyuani are made by separating the dough into portions and adding a little food coloring to each portion. The cook kneads each piece until the coloring is evenly distributed. Then, he or she shapes the dough into balls of the desired size. At this stage, the cook adds fillings, introducing some into each ball.
Next, the cook drops the dumplings into a vessel containing boiling water. In about five minutes or more, the balls float to the surface. This indicates they are cooked. Cooked dumplings are removed, dumped in cold water and drained after a while. They are then ready to be served in a warm, sweet syrup made of brown sugar or rock candy and ginger.
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