Tang Yuan - Glutinous Rice Ball

The direct translation to « Tang Yuan 汤圆 » is « Ball Soup » which represents togetherness and the gathering of families. This humble mochi-like balls made of glutinous rice flour can be as tiny as marbles or huge as a ping pong and is a symbolic presence at the dinner table every Lunar New Year.

I grew up eating this served in a bowl of sugared ginger water but you can eat it at its simplest form or stuffed with fillings like black sesame, red bean or peanut paste.

This Lunar New Year, I prepared them straight from the frozen packs but if you fancy a made-from-scratch version with black sesame filling, I wrote a detailed recipe guide here using just a few ingredients.

This are what i used to make this simple dessert! Each visit to the asian store gets me excited especially when I see a “Product of Singapore” and the “Spring Home” brand is my go-to for frozen Tang Yuans. To prepare, all you need is handful of rock sugar or castor sugar and 5 fresh slices of ginger.

In a medium pot, bring the water to a boil before adding rock sugar and fresh ginger slices then drop in the frozen glutinous ball and let it cook for 3-5 minutes. These glutinous rice balls will float to the surface when they are plump and that’s the sign that they are ready to be eaten.

I personally prefer to have this dessert soup warm but you can also chill it and have it eaten cold. Either way, it’s great. Enjoy!