Tang Yuan: Glutinous Rice Balls

Usually eaten on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, known as the Lantern Festival, tang yuan (湯圓) is a sweet treat that symbolizes familial unity and togetherness. It's not reserved for just the holidays, though, because it's simply too delicious to eat only a couple of times a year. 

Growing up, my mom always had store-bought ones stashed in the freezer so that we could boil off a few whenever the sweet tooth yearnings struck. I loved them so much that—disclaimer, I am a WEIRD eater—I would sometimes sneak a couple in their raw, semi-defrosted state. (Probably not a good food safety practice, so please don't do this at home.)

While they are quite affordable to buy pre-packaged, this can be a very enjoyable activity if you're looking to spend some time entering the zen cooking zone, or if you're with family during the holidays. Something about making food together with the people I love just makes the world feel like such a better place. Along with homemade dumplings, these are my favorite food associations with the Lunar New Year celebrations. 

My favorite fillings are sweet black sesame and ground peanuts, so I've included the option below to make either one. If you're a wild child, you can combine them both into one filling! Just make sure you're using 1 cup total of your seed and/or legume of choice. Other popular fillings include lotus seed paste, red bean paste, savory meat fillings (a Southern Chinese variant), and newfangled flavors like chocolate. 

If you want, you can stuff these glutinous rice balls with anything and everything. Got a jar of Nutella? Scoop out rounded teaspoons of it on a parchment-lined sheet tray, freeze until hardened, then proceed with the wrapping and boiling instructions. Whatever filling you choose to go with, the most important detail is to freeze them completely—if the filling is soft at all, the wrapping process will be a mess and you will cry of sadness or yell with frustration or both. Your patience will be rewarded.

My favorite serving option is to put a few cooked tang yuan in a bowl, then ladle in some of the mildly starchy cooking broth. This is a light and soothing version, perfect for me because the rice balls themselves are already sweetened. They are also commonly served in red bean broth, osmanthus syrup, or sweet ginger soup. If you'd like an extra hit of sugar, you can simply take a portioned ball of your filling and let it melt into your cooking broth for a flavored soup.

If you've made these, let us know down in the comments how you liked 'em, and what you stuffed them with!