Houses are draped in red as relatives gather together to celebrate the New Year. Red packets with money are passed around, bringing good luck and fortune. People clean their homes to get rid of bad luck. Families gather around the table to enjoy their family favorites and staples that ensure longevity and prosperity, such as noodles or chewy desserts.
Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, is a time to celebrate what lies ahead in the year. Welcoming fortune, the festival is a time of gathering and leaving behind bad luck. Originally, the Chinese New Year was celebrated for fifteen days, from the new moon to the Lantern Festival on March 3. During the days of celebration, families gather to enjoy a meal, including traditional foods such as Tang Yuan.
Tang Yuan is a delectable dessert. The dish’s savory and sweet sesame paste pairs perfectly with the chewy, mochi-like wrapper, and the broth gives each bite a hearty warmth.
This Tang Yuan recipe is filled with comforting feelings as the warm broth and chewy texture meld together. With simple ingredients, this recipe is accessible to everyone, celebrating or not. Although there is a learning curve to making Tang Yuan, the moments around the table that the dish creates are unforgettable.
The original recipe can be found here, thanks to Red House Spice.
Yield: 20 Tang Yuan
Ingredients:
- 80g black sesame seeds
- 35g tablespoons sugar
- 35g tablespoons of softened butter
- 120g glutinous rice flour
- 45g boiling water
- 60g room temperature water
- 45g brown/white sugar
- Ginger to taste
Step 1:
Toast the sesame seeds on low heat until they puff up and are easy to crush between your fingers. To prevent a burnt taste, do not toast the seeds for long.
Step 2:
Once the seeds are cool, grind them in the food processor (a mortar and pestle works too) with the sugar until a soft, shiny paste forms.
Step 3:
Combine the sesame paste with butter until fully combined and refrigerate until firm enough to handle.
Step 4:
Divide the past into twenty portions and roll each portion into a ball. Keep refrigerated until use.
Step 5:
To make the dough, mix the glutinous rice flour with boiling water in a medium bowl. Then add room temperature water to the dough.
Step 6:
Knead the dough by hand until smooth, adjusting the consistency with water or flour. Then, divide the dough into twenty portions.
Step 7:
Flatten the dough into a thin round shape with your fingers. Then place the filling in the middle and gently push the wrapper to cover the filling. Be sure to seal the top completely.
Step 8:
Before cooking the Tang Yuan, bring about a cup of water to a boil with granulated sugar or brown sugar, as well as ginger to taste. Simmer for four minutes to make the ginger broth/syrup.
Step 9:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and gently place a few Tang Yuan into the pot. Once they begin to float, cook for another minute before taking them out and adding them to the ginger broth.
Step 10:
Serve warm and enjoy!