- Tangyuan
Tāngyuán 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" can be either filled or unfilled. It is traditionally eaten during "Yuanxiao", or theLantern Festival .Name
Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to the "tangyuan". During the Yongle era of the
Ming Dynasty , the name was officially settled as "yuanxiao", a name derived from the "Yuanxiao festival", also known as theLantern Festival . This name literally means "first evening", being the firstfull moon afterChinese New Year , which is always anew moon . This name prevails innorthern China .In
southern China , however, the prevailing names are "tangyuan" or "tangtuan". Legend has it that duringYuan Shikai 's rule (1912-1916), Yuan disliked the name "Yuanxiao" because it sounded identical to "remove Yuan" (linktext|袁|削), and so mandated that the name "Tangyuan" be used instead. This name literally means "round balls in soup". "Tangtuan" similarly means "round dumplings in soup".Ingredients
In both filled and unfilled "tangyuan", the main ingredient is
glutinous rice flour. For filled "tangyuan", the filling can be either sweet or savoury.Sweet fillings can be:
*Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) - the most common filling;
*Red bean paste ;
* Choppedpeanut s andsugar . Celebrated on the longest night of the year, Dong Zhi is the day when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest. The coming of winter is celebrated by families and is traditionally the time when farmers and fishermen gather food in preparation for the coming cold season. It is also a time for family reunions. This celebration can be traced to the Chinese belief in yin and yang, which represent balance and harmony in life. It is believed that the yin qualities of darkness and cold are at their most powerful at this time, but it is also the turning point, giving way to the light and warmth of yang. For this reason, the Dong Zhi Festival is a time for optimism. Dong Zhi is celebrated in style. The longest night of the year is a time to put on brand new clothes, visit family with gifts and to laugh and drink deep into the long nigSavoury filling is usually a
pork meat ball .erving
"Tangyuan" is cooked in boiling water. Filled "tangyuan" is served along with the water in which it is boiled (hence the "soup" in the name).
Unfilled "tangyuan" is served as part of a sweet
dessert soup (known in Cantonese cuisine as "tong sui ", which literally means "sugar water"). Common types include:
*Red bean soup
*Black sesame soup
*Ginger and rock sugar;
* Fermented glutinous rice (linktext|醪|糟 or linktext|酒|釀) ,Sweet Osmanthus and rock sugar.Availability
The most famous varieties come from
Ningbo andWenzhou inZhejiang Province. However, they are traditionally eaten throughout China.Originally, "tangyuan" was associated with the
Lantern Festival . However, it has also come to be associated with the Winter Solstice andChinese New Year in various regions. Today, the food is eaten all year round. Mass-produced "tangyuan" is commonly found in the frozen food section ofAsian supermarket s in China and overseas.imilar dishes
In southern Vietnam, a similar dish, called "
chè xôi nước ", is served in a mild, sweet liquid flavored with gratedginger root. In northern Vietnam, "bánh trôi" (also called "bánh trôi nước") and "bánh chay" are also very similar, with the latter being served withcoconut milk . "Gulab jamun " is anIndian dessert that is made of fried dairy dough balls served in a bowl of syrup.ee also
*
Oshiruko
*Mochi
*Chè xôi nước
*Chap Goh Mei External links
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/yi-lin/541260494/ "Tangyuan" photo]
* [http://www.knowingfood.com/rice/tang_yuan_chicken_soup.html Simple savoury and sweet Tang Yuan recipes]
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