Tang Yuan / Glutinous Rice Ball in Sweet Ginger & Pandan Syrup Soup

My 2016 Tong Yuan, I make this once a year on the 22nd December which the Chinese celebrates Winter Solstice Festival.  I like my Tang Yuan this time, it appears to be more presentable and beautifully round with clear syrup soup, i could see them more clearly too. 

I love filling Tong Yuan, so i make a batch of Tong Yuan with smooth peanut butter fillings, its so yummy!   

TANG YUAN
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups glutinous rice flour
1 cup water, add gradually
food colouring

FILLING
Skippy Smooth Peanut Butter

GINGER & PANDAN SYRUP SOUP
ginger, thinly sliced
3 pandan leaves, ties in knot
500ml water
Rock sugar ( your own desire sweetness level )

METHOD
* In a bowl, add glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually add in the water while mixing, if you find dough enough flexible, stop adding water.  Dough is done when it is not stick on your hands.  If too dry, just add some more water, if too wet add more flour.
* Dust plate with glutinous rice flour to prevent from sticking,  Separate them ino 2 or 4 portion depending on how many colors you want to make.
*  Mix coloring set each portion on the plate.  Pinch the dough into small ball. Roll into ball and flatten on palm add in Peanut Butter or any filling you prefer.
* Roll into ball and set on a serving plate with flour continue until finish.
* In a soup pan boil water till boiling hot add in tong yuan and stir balls while dropping balls into water to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
* When balls cooked, it will float to the top. Dish up
* Transfer to a bowl of cold water or direct to syrup.
* To make Syrup Soup - In a Soup Pot, boil water in a pot, add in pandan leaves and ginger bring to boil on medium heat until it smells and aromatic.  Add in sugar and let it simmer until sugar melted.

Tang Yuan Chinese Sweet Dessert, 22.12.2014

22.12.2014 - Yummy Tang Yuan.  Even thought i don't really love much sweet stuff with syrup, but can't resist these little colorful balls, they simply looking too cute to eat. Make just little bit to celebrate our yearly Winter solstice aka “dong zhi” (冬至), which usually falls on the 21st or 22nd of December.

Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour (250g)
1/2 cup water, add gradually ( i added more then 1/2 cup of water until smooth )
1/2 tbsp super fine sugar
food colouring: 1 drop pandan paste, 1 drop strawberry paste, 1 red+1 yellow food colouring to make orange

Sweet soup:
80g ginger, thinly sliced
1 litre water
80g gula Melaka chunk (use 50g Taiwanese Winter Melon Tea cubes, you can add more if you like the soup to taste sweeter)
2 pandan leaves, ties in knot

Method:
1. In a bowl, add the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually add in the water. Knead the mixture into a smooth dough. The dough should feel wet and smooth with hands.

2. Divide the dough into four, one plain, one with pandan paste, one with strawberry paste and one with orange food colouring. Set aside.

3. In a small soup pot, boil the water, ginger, pandan leaves and drop in the winter melon tea cube. When the water is boiling, discard the pandan leaves and set aside.

4. Prepare a bowl of drinking water (room temperature), and boil another pot with water. Divide the flour dough into smaller balls, roll it in your palms to make it round. Drop the balls into the boiling water in step 4. When the glutinous rice balls floated on the water, it means it is cooked, keep it in the boiling water for another 1/2 min. Scoop the glutinous rice balls out from the boiling water and place it in the bowl of drinking water. Let it be there until serving.

5. Serving: Scoop out the Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls) and place it into the ginger winter melon soup you prepared in step 3.

冬至 Happy Winter Solstice Festival - Tong Yuan

22.12.2013 - Batam. 冬至 Dongzhi/ Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most important festival celebrated by all Chinese around the world.  I would never want to miss this day.  This time i get my 3 years old to help me make Tong Yuen.  I love Tong Yuen with Peanut Butter fillings.  My son loves Peanut Butter too.  So im sure he will love this one.  He is not really helping me in the kitchen, he is making some mess and helping to eat and lick peanut butter while attempting to make ...haaa..but i have so much fun getting him in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:-
( make 21 Tong Yuen )

1 1/2 cup Glutinous Rice Flour
1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar
1/2 cup water
Peanut Butter

* Mix all in a bow except peanut butter, mix well with a wooden spoon/ spatula.  if is too dry add some water.
* Roll into a big ball cut into 2 evenly, put the other half  with a drop of red coloring. Another half remain white. Roll and cut into a desire shape.  Fill each balls with peanut butter fillings and seal it properly.  Sprinkle generous flour on plate and place Tong Yuen prepare to cook.  Do not place each ball too near to each other or it will stick together.
* In a Soup Pan,  Put a few Tong Yuen into hot water let it cook for a few minutes.  When Tong Yuen are cooked, it will float to the surface and dish up into a bowl of water.  Let it set in the bowl of water while you can prepare the Tong Yuen Syrup.


PREPARE SYRUP
3 slices of Old Ginger
few Pandan Leafs
Palm Sugar, desire amout to taste
Water


* Bring water to boil and add pandan leaves, gula melaka and ginger. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Ready to served with Tong Yuen.

Tang Yuan with Peanut Butter Fillings ( Sweet Glutinous Rice Ball )

Tang Yuen is also eaten during auspicious family celebrations and Winter solstice aka “dong zhi” (冬至), which usually falls on the 21st or 22nd of December. The round and sticky dumpling balls symbolise family closeness and togetherness.  This Tang Yuen I made was in 2011 when my mom visited us in Brunei.  Im being too free and created a few colors for my tang yuen :) i made 6 colors, they were the purple, original white, pink, green, orange and yellow.  I filled my tang yuen with peanut butter.  So yumm.

Ingredients

Rice Balls

- 1 1/2 cup glutinous rice flour

- 1 cup water (add gradually until all form a ball and not sticky )

- food colourings

Fillin - Skippy Peanut Butter

Sweet Soup (糖水)

- Fewginger slices

- 2 litres of water

- Rock sugar / Plum sugar / regular granulated sugar

- 2 pandan (screw pine) leaves, tied in a knot

Method:-

In a large mixing bowl, add flour and water. Gradually add water (you don’t have to use all of it) and knead the dough until soft, smooth, easily kneadable (pictured above) yet not sticky to the fingers (too wet), nor crumbling (too dry). If the dough is too wet, add a bit more flour.

Divide the dough depending on the number of different colours you intend to make (I divided mine to 6 portions). Add food colouring, just one drop to each portion and knead until the colour is well distributed. 

Shape the dough to even-sized balls, press in to a round disc and feel in a tsp of peanut butter, use index fingers to close and round into a round ball.  

Bring a pot of water (enough water to submerge the dumplings completely) to boil. Add the tang yuan into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. Transfer them immediately to a bowl of room temperature water to cool down. This prevents the tang yuan from sticking to one another or discolour the soup, especially helpful if you are not serving immediately. Do not over cook this or you will find the tong yuen all breaking apart.

Add ingredients for sweet soup (糖水) in a pot. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer until the sugar is fully melted. To serve, add cooked tang yuen to a serving bowl and ladle the sweet soup over.'