Delightful Soft and Chewy Glutinous Rice Balls (Tangyuan): A New Year's Treat You Can’t Resist!

glutinous rice flour

🥗Healthier: almond flour

💰Cheaper: regular rice flour

Almond flour is lower in carbohydrates, while regular rice flour is more accessible.

black sesame paste

🥗Healthier: sunflower seed butter

💰Cheaper: tahini

Sunflower seed butter offers a similar nutty flavor, while tahini is often less expensive.

peanut butter

🥗Healthier: almond butter

💰Cheaper: sunflower seed butter

Almond butter is healthier, while sunflower seed butter is budget-friendly.

red bean paste

🥗Healthier: homemade bean puree

💰Cheaper: canned beans

Homemade puree is healthier and canned beans are more economical.

Wash and soak 65g peeled split mung beans in warm water for 1 hour, then wash again.

Add 400ml water to the soaked mung beans and boil for 5 minutes.

Remove all water and foam from the mung beans, then cook over low heat for about 5 minutes or until soft.

Mash the mung beans while they are still hot, then add 1/2 tablespoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

Stir in 4 tablespoons coconut milk and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, then let cool.

Prepare the dough by mixing 150g glutinous rice flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a small pot, mix 15g rice flour with 1.5 tablespoons oil and 75g water, then stir over medium-low heat until thickened.

Add the thickened batter into the bowl with glutinous rice flour while it is still hot and mix well.

Rub the mixture between your hands until it has the texture of coarse sand, then slowly add about 75g warm water (60°C), pouring water wherever there is dry powder.

Knead the mixture until it is smooth, then divide the filling into 7g portions each and cover to rest for 15 minutes.

Prepare the ginger syrup by boiling 700ml of water and adding 180g sugar and 20g sliced ginger, cooking until the sugar is completely dissolved, then turn off the heat.

After 15 minutes, color the dough: use 25g to make light pink with a pinch of gel red food coloring, 10g to make dark pink, 5g to make yellow, and 60g to make green, and 10g for white dough.

Rub each colored dough on your palm until pliable, then cover to prevent drying out.

Place about 1g of pink dough on top of the white dough, flatten it, and place a ball of filling in the middle.

Gently push the dough upwards to seal completely, then shape as desired using 1.5g of green dough for leaves, dark pink for flowers, and yellow for pistils, applying a thin layer of water as needed.

Drop the shaped balls into boiling water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

The dumplings are cooked when they float; reduce to medium-low heat and cook for another 2 minutes after they float.

After 2 minutes, transfer the dumplings to a bowl of cold water and let cool.

Heat the ginger syrup again and transfer all the balls to the syrup, cooking over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until it boils again.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens