Rachel Kristen
live, love, laugh. Just the way I like it.
Though we don't experience winter here in Malaysia, Chinese celebrate the Tang Yuan festival (sometimes known as Dong Zhi or Winter Solstice) that signifies the coming of winter, every year.
Now i know why people can't live without food. AlmostEvery occasion is associated with food.
Christmas - turkey, ham, candy cane, fruit cake, etc.
Chinese New Year - mandarin oranges, traditional dishes like roast pork, duck, savouries..
Valentine's Day - chocolates, wine, steak, and anything western (including home cooked meals, i wonder why)
Birthdays - cakes, chocolates, and a good meal
and not forgetting the eves of these celebrations..
***
So yesterday my mum called,
"It's tang yuan festival today, why don't you prepare some for us?"
O_O
No, that is not any facial expression, that's..two tang yuans.
(i know, f u n n y lame.)
So here's what I did:
My simple recipe :)
Items that you need include:
Brown sugar (healthier choice), ginger, cooking utensils, and not forgetting your tang yuan (i got ready made ones coz too last minute)
My favourite tang yuans are the peanut flavoured ones
1. Prepare a tiny mug and fill it with brown sugar to almost 3/4 full (no measuring cup, use your instinct!)
Before that, boil water in your cooking pot.
2. Slice baby gingers and dump them along with your cup of brown sugar into a pot of boiled water.
Let it simmer.
3. Gently dump the tang yuans (sweet glutinous rice balls) into the pot. Don't forget to test the sweetness and spicyness of the pee-look-alike soup :P
Once it is cooked, the balls will start to float like this:
Do not leave it in too long otherwise the tang yuans will be really soft (like crazily soft, so soft that you can hardly taste the chewyness of the balls)
I would suggest that you only dump the tang yuans into the pot when you're about ready to eat.
(It takes less than 3 minutes for it to float)
And it is now ready to be served :)
Yummylicious peanut-filled tang yuans for mee! (and my family of course!)
Have a go at it, it's really fast, simple, and delicious.
Enjoy! :)
Labels: December
