Tangyuan — glutinous rice balls in ginger soup

i. Origin & history

Tangyuan are eaten throughout China and the Chinese diaspora at family-reunion festivals — the round shape is itself the meaning. The Cantonese version (tong sui) is the sweet soup version described here.

ii. Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 200 g glutinous rice flour
• 160 ml warm water
• Optional red food colour
• 60 g black sesame seeds, toasted and ground
• 60 g sugar
• 60 g unsalted butter, soft (for filling)
• 1 litre water
• 100 g sugar
• 6 slices fresh ginger
• 1 pandan leaf, knotted (optional)

iii. Method

1. Mix rice flour with warm water to a smooth dough; rest 10 min. Tint half pink with colour if desired.
2. Make filling: mix ground sesame, 60 g sugar and butter. Roll into small marbles; freeze 30 min.
3. Divide dough into 24 small balls. Flatten each; place a frozen filling marble inside; gather and roll smooth.
4. Bring water with ginger, sugar and pandan to a boil. Simmer 5 min.
5. Drop tangyuan into the boiling broth. They sink, then float; cook 2 more min after floating.
6. Ladle into bowls with broth. Eat hot.

iv. Tips & common mistakes

• Use the freshest ingredients you can. The recipe relies on them.
• Read the method through first. Several steps must be ready in advance.
• Season patiently. Sweetness and salt are tuned at the end, not the start.

v. Variations

Black sesame tangyuan is the canonical sweet version. Peanut tangyuan uses ground peanut filling. Plain tangyuan have no filling. Brown-sugar tangyuan uses brown sugar in the broth.

vii. More from Chinese

• Klepon — Indonesian palm-sugar rice balls
• Onde-Onde — sesame mung-bean balls
• Daifuku — Japanese mochi with bean filling
• Mochi Rice Balls — Japanese ohagi
• Nian Gao — Lunar New Year cake
• Anpan — Japanese sweet-bean buns