Tang Yuan for Winter Solstice Festival

It the time of the year to celebrate the Winter Solstice Festival with the family which is the tradition for almost every Chinese people. Tang Yuan (glutinous rice ball) symbolize the reunion of family and usually every family make it themselves although now they can be bought conveniently everywhere all year round.

Tang Yuan is fattening as it contain a lot of starch from the use of glutinous flour as the ingredient so be sure to limit them. Here is the recipe:

Nutritional fact:

Serving per recipe: 8

Calorie: 703 (better make them small)

Ingredients

• 4 cups glutinous-rice flour
• 4 cups brown sugar
• 12 cups water

Directions

1. Mix the rice flour and about 2 cups of water together in a bowl. Use enough water to make a thick dough, about the consistency of play dough. To be sure that the dough isn?t too runny, add one cup of water to the rice flour and mix. Slowly add the second cup, stopping when the dough reaches the right consistency. You may not need the entire cup of water.Knead the dough for about five minutes.

2. Divide the dough into three lumps. Add a few drops of food coloring to each lump. One lump will be green, etc.Work the food coloring completely into the dough.

3. In a large kettle, heat the other 10 cups of water with the brown sugar. Keep stirring so that the sugar doesn?t burn. The sugar should completely melt.

4. Roll the dough into marble-sized rice flour balls.

5. Carefully drop them into the sugar water syrup. Avoid splashing or spilling the syrup.

6. Cook the rice balls until they float to the surface of the syrup.

7. Serve the rice balls in the syrup. They are good either hot or cold.

You can make different filling such as peanut, read bean and black sasami if you like it with more flavours.

Enjoy!!