Homemade Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls) 汤圆

Tang Yuan a bouncy chewy glutinous rice balls is traditionally eaten during Yuan Xiao 元宵 and Chinese Winter Solstice Festival 冬至. It has the meaning of family reunion. The Tang Yuan is cooked in a pot of boiling water then serve with sweet ginger soup. My family always cook the Tang Yuan without any filling in it, I like it that way too. 

Time flies, is end of the year again. This coming Chinese Winter Solstice, I will be living in Qatar, Doha and reunion with my family, lets celebrate it by eating the Tang Yuan! 

This recipe is a keeper as the Tang Yuan is very chewy and it doesn't turn hard when it cool down. I changed the original recipe for the sweet ginger soup with winter melon tea cubes, it turned out very nice too! 

冬至是让我会怀恋我阿嘛的时候，当年她的厨房里这是大人大忙的时候，汤圆面团还得早一晚搓好因为除了要弄一大锅的汤圆，还要弄好多的菜肴。孩子们是不许在这时候吵闹。。。她说，搓汤圆时得说好话。而当年还年纪小的我们只知道贪玩，把她给我们的面团弄得又脏又扁的，就是搓不圆。

时间过得好快，终于是十二月了。今年的冬至，我人将在卡塔尔就让我用搓汤圆的仪意来迎接我和先生团圆的日子！

终于上完三个星期前的作品，终结今年所学的烘焙，料理和摄影，无愧！我想这是很完美的为今年写下句点。

Recipe adapted from Noob Cook Recipe with minor changes
(3 small serving)

Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour (250g)
1/2 cup water, add gradually
1/2 tbsp super fine sugar
food colouring: 1 drop pandan paste, 1 drop strawberry paste, 1 red+1 yellow food colouring to make orange

Sweet soup:
80g ginger, thinly sliced
1 litre water
80g gula Melaka chunk (use 50g Taiwanese Winter Melon Tea cubes, you can add more if you like the soup to taste sweeter)
2 pandan leaves, ties in knot

Method:

1. In a bowl, add the glutinous rice flour and sugar. Gradually add in the water. Knead the mixture into a smooth dough. The dough should feel wet and smooth with hands. 

2. Divide the dough into four, one plain, one with pandan paste, one with strawberry paste and one with orange food colouring. Set aside.

3. In a small soup pot, boil the water, ginger, pandan leaves and drop in the winter melon tea cube. When the water is boiling, discard the pandan leaves and set aside.

4. Prepare a bowl of drinking water (room temperature), and boil another pot with water. Divide the flour dough into smaller balls, roll it in your palms to make it round. Drop the balls into the boiling water in step 4. When the glutinous rice balls floated on the water, it means it is cooked, keep it in the boiling water for another 1/2 min. Scoop the glutinous rice balls out from the boiling water and place it in the bowl of drinking water. Let it be there until serving. 

5. Serving: Scoop out the Tang Yuan (glutinous rice balls) and place it into the ginger winter melon soup you prepared in step 3.