Tang Yuan is one of those traditional desserts that we do actually cook at home. Unlike most of the Chinese pastries that involve complicated prep time and require an oven, a device that most home cooks do not own, the sweet rice balls are quite practical to make. Tang Yuan, or sweet rice balls, or sweet rice dumplings, is an important festival food that represents family reunions and happiness. It is usually served during the Lantern Festival (元宵节), celebrated on the 15th day after Chinese New Year (lunar calendar). It is a very small dumpling that is made with a sweet, sometimes savory, filling and sticky rice, that is then boiled and served in hot soup. When I was a kid, I used to make these sweet rice balls with my mom and grandma. We usually used pre-made filling from a grocery store. The fillings come in small packages, such as sweet red bean paste, black sesame paste, five nuts, chocolate, and peanut butter fillings.
Traditional Tang Yuan filling usually contains lard, which is solid in room temperature especially in winter. The filling has a tough yet pliable texture, just like a dough ball. But, once cooked in boiling water, the lard and sugar melt and the filling becomes runny. It is almost like a chocolate lava cake – the hot sweet silky filling will run out once you bite into the rice dumpling. The experience is quite magical. These sweet rice dumplings were my favorite dessert growing up.
To make the filling from scratch is not difficult. But to make a great tasting Tang Yuan, you really want to pursue that runny filling. It means you need to solidify the filling before wrapping the dumplings and work on them quickly, so they won’t become too tender or melt. The task might look a bit challenging, but it can be done if you maintain a good workflow (described in the recipe below). Today I want to introduce one of my favorite fillings – peanut butter filling made with toasted peanuts and original peanut butter. As an alternative, you could also use homemade red bean paste in this recipe. The red bean paste filling will be easier to work with and you do not require chilling before wrapping, but you won’t get the runny texture like the filling this recipe. A quick tip: you can also use the peanut butter filling to make these crispy sticky rice cakes! [one_half padding=”0 0 0 2px”] [/one_half] [one_half padding=”0 0 0 2px”] [/one_half]
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
