Dong Zhi

Today is Dong Zhi (Winter Solstice) which in Mandarin means "the extreme of winter". I wish everyone great happiness and optimism.

In Singapore where most Chinese descended from Southern Chinese, we celebrate Dong Zhi eating tang yuan which are glutinous rice balls in a sweet syrup. Chinese fesitval dishes usually have auspicious and meaningful names and the tang yuan is no different. Tang yuan sounds like "tuan yuan" which in Mandarin means reunion of the family. My Northern Chinese friends tell me that unlike the Southerners, they do not eat tang yuan but they eat jiao zi (Chinese savory dumplings). I think it will be really nice if I get to eat both tang yuan and jiao zi, kind of a North meets South Dong Zhi. Maybe next year.

Dong Zhi usually falls on the 22nd of December. This year however, it is on the 21st which has caught my family unaware. As a result, there was a mad scramble yesterday to buy all the ingredients needed to prepare the vegetarian meal we traditionally eat on the day itself.

Top on the to buy list is the glutinous rice dough needed to make the tang yuan. It is a simple dough made from glutinous rice flour and water that has to be kneaded for a long time to achieve the chewy texture. Most markets sell the dough in white and pink on the eve of Dong Zhi but it gets sold out quickly because almost every family needs them. For those who do not have the time to knead and roll out the little glutinous rice balls, there are ready made frozen tang yuan.

To be perfectly honest, the frozen tang yuan taste much better than the home made ones and they come in many different fillings like black sesame, red bean and peanut. The home made ones are plain and taste rather bland. However, it is more fun for the whole family to get involve and roll the glutinous rice dough into little marble size balls. I have many fond memories of me and my brother playing with the dough, being creative making tang yuan of various shapes and sizes. The strange thing was that no matter what shape tang yuan we made, they turned into lumps once cooked.

Here are the tang yuan all rolled out. They are then dropped into a pot of boiling water and once the tang yuan float, they are cooked. I never get tired of the sticky chewy glutinous rice balls served in a thick, sweet syrup made from brown sugar. Some people prefer a clearer looking syrup using castor sugar but according to my Mom, brown sugar is traditionally used.

Comments

[umami]

Hi ST, Happy Dong Zhi. We had the sesame filled ones in almond cream at the Peach Garden restaurant. On normal days husband buys from Ah Balling stall at Golden Mile FC.

I remember making those balls like the pink and white ones when I was young, but even till now I don't like the taste. Max I could eat: 1. We had it in white sugar syrup.

[Allen Wong]

Happy Dong Zhi!

I don't know, I rather like to eat tong yuan. Well, maybe I just like to eat what's in the savory broth that my family prepares. I can't eat too many of the actual tong yuan because they're the equivalent of rocks in my intenstinal system. I like them for texture though. Filled with peanut, seasame, and cocunut: it's a whole other story.

Allen

[fish fish]

Wei~ ST... happy Dong Zhi. The 1st pic looks drooling. Wish I am at home to eat my mum home-made warm warm Tang Yuan now. >_<

[MrsT]

Happy Dong Zhi.. :) Thank you for reminding me.. for i know.. i wanna teach my daughter traditions like that.. when she is older.. :)
I remember the pink tang yuen too... and i only eat the pink ones..and not the white ones.... but these days.. i eat the store bought ones.. :)

[pinkcocoa]

Happy belated Dong Zhi!
We had tang yuan last night too! Your tang yuan looks so red and the thick brown sugar syrup looks so yummy too! ;-) We had pink and white one in a light soup.

My understanding of dong zhi is different yours though. :p I always thought it's an indication of the end of winter.

[toru]

looks yum! too tired to make tang yuan. had store bought cheese cake instead :)

[adelaine]

hi, i was browsing for some info on tang yuans when i found your site. makes me feel like going out to find something to eat, so i have decised that i must not frequently visit it!! :P

I have also stole your picture of your tang yuan- i hope you don't mind... or i can take it out..

love your kek batik too... im now heading to coffee bean just so that i can get some cake!!!

[kyle]

im doing a project on this fetival can you send me some stuff about it

[marsella chen hui xin]

yummy sticky tang yuan really remind me to my family..

although i come from "peranakan" society but that tradition still exist.

every 22 december we join to getther in round big table to eat that sticky ball. i love most the peanut filling very much.. sweet and chewy..

as a foreign student in china, tang yuan really make me homesick .. ha.ha..ha. >.-

[lelandwong]

happy dong zhi from san francisco.

I don't know if it's an exclusive Taishanese thing...but we only eat tong yuan in a salty soup made with radish (lo-bahk), lop cheung, dried shrimp (ha-mai) etc. The only time I ate sweet tong yuan was at my wedding.

[Angela Wan]

We eat the same exact pink and white tang yuan too!

[wench]

Hi! Came looking for how to make tang yuan, found your site. Thank you! Have to learn it all by myself from scratch. Managed to make them edible 1st try, had a great deal of fun with the rice flour mix - very odd texture but much fun! Have discovered if you use dried ingredients, like dried strawberries as a filling, it dries out the rice flour around the filling a little whilst you cook it; some sort of paste or solid is preferable. But they tasted ok - I used sweet dried strawberries (not completely dry, still chewy) and rolled them in sesame after. Very yummy! I wanted to try and make a cheese, garlic, bacon, onion filling but they were too hard to stuff; the filling has to be very dense & solid on it's own or the rice flour dough crumbles around it.
Thank you again - Cheers!