Tang Yuan (湯圓) Glutinous Rice Balls

Tang Yuan (湯圓) Glutinous Rice Balls

Tang yuan (湯圓) (pinyin with tones: tāng yuán), glutinous rice ball or called sticky rice ball, is a traditional dessert which usually served with sweet soup. People in Taiwan especially eat tang yuan on Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and Dongzhi Festival (Winter Solstice Festival), between December 21 to 23.

Two Types Of Tang Yuan (湯圓)

In terms of size of tang yuan, there are basically two common sizes: the smaller ones, we call them xiao tang yuan (小湯圓), are as small as NT$ 5 coin; the larger ones are as big as NT$50 coin or even bigger.

Flavors Of Xiao Tang Yuan (小湯圓)

Xiao tang yuan has white and pink colors and usually served with sweet soup such as dou hua (豆花, tofu pudding), shao xian cao (燒仙草, hot grass jelly), tshuah ping (挫冰, shaved ice), hong dou tang (紅豆湯, red bean soup), or just syrup. Another popular way to eat xiao tang yuan is to deep fry and then sprinkle peanut powder and sugar on them. You can find it in yan su ji (鹽酥雞, Taiwanese popcorn chicken) stands. Xiao tang yuan can also be made into savory by putting it into savory soup with ingredients like shredded pork, dried shrimp, dried shiikate mushroom, and some vegetables. It is Hakka style so it is named ke jia xian tang yuan (Hakka savory glutinous rice balls).

Flavors Of Da Tang Yuan (大湯圓)

The bigger tang yuan are also served with sweet soup and usually stuffed with peanut powder, which is then called hua sheng tang yuan (花生湯圓, peanut powder glutinous rice balls), or black sesame, zhi ma tang yuan (芝麻湯圓, black sesame glutinous rice balls). When it comes to da tang yuan (大湯圓), however, it usually means the savory stuffing like minced pork, dried radish, and dried shiitake mushroom. It comes with savory soup, usually with green leafy vegetables as well. It is known as ke jia da tang yuan (客家大湯圓, Hakka stuffed glutinous rice balls).

「吃紅豆湯、燒仙草的時候就想加小湯圓，過節日的時候就想到花生芝麻湯圓，到客家餐館就想吃客家大湯圓。」——Mosa 自己說

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