Tangyuan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tangyuan (Simplified Chinese: 汤圆; Traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán) or tangtuan (汤团; pinyin: tāng tuán), is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan that has been filled with sweet or savory fillings are collectively known as yuan xiao (元宵; pinyin: yuán xiāo).
Different ways of cooking can be used. Usually it is served as a dessert with sweeten soup - the soup can be either made of sweetened red beans (Hongdou), or ginger and rock sugar. The most famous varieties come from Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province.
Filled tangyuan (yuan xiao) can be filled with a wide variety of ingredients including red bean paste, chopped peanuts and sugar, sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard), rock sugar (which would create a hot, melting caramel-like filling), and even pork meatballs.
The food is eaten all year round, although it is commonly associated with the Winter solstice, Chinese New Year, and the Lantern Festival.
