Tang Yuan - Winter Solstice Festival

Today is Chinese Winter Solstice Festival or call DongZhi Festival (冬至) . This is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term (winter solstice) on or around December 22. 

In different country there have different celebration and food preparation. In Malaysia Chinese, they most gather together with family praying and have meal together. In the meal Tang Yuan is the must have item in the list. 

Every home also will make the homemade Tang Yuan at home. Even the busy person they also will buy the frozen TangYuan and cook with the sweet soup. 

Chinese people said after eat the Sweet Tang Yuan, everything will be good, family will be happiness and age also grow up. 

This year i be my mum helper to make the TangYuan and also help for the arrangement for pray. 

There have a simple way to make the Tang Yuan and it just need few ingredient only. For the basic sweet soup they like to use the Pandan Ginger Soup. If for some modern people they like to use the Soya be the sweet soup.

Let's see what have to prepare.

Tang Yuan

- Glutinous rice flour

- Hot Water

- Coloring

- Red Bean Paste

Sweet Soup

- Pandan Leave

- Sugar

- Ginger

Instruction 

- Take 2 cup of Glutinous rice flour and slowly add in the hot water and let it become dough

- Start to knead the TangYuan Dough until it smooth.

- While the dough ready, divide it by 2.

- Add in the pink coloring into 1 dough and keep knead until the color fully mix with dough.

- Take some Red Bean paste and divide it in a small cube 

- Then you can start to make the shape you need.

- First i make the small round shape without filling 

- Second will add in the filling read bean paste and wrap over.

- Take a pot start to make the sweet soup, add in the pandan leave together boil the water and 

  following with ginger and the sugar. 

- Take another pot start to cook the Tang Yuan. I also take another big bowl put the normal water.

   When the TangYuan Float then can take out put in the big bowl which already have water.

  (This step will let the Tang Yuan more nice and more texture)

- After can add in all to the sweet soup pot cook together. 

I make two type of Tong Yuan, one have filling and one without filling. Basically the Tang Yuan only are round shape, but i also make it the flower shape and the foot-cat print.