Tangyuan

What is Tangyuan?

Tangyuan or tang yuan is a Chinese dessert that is a ball of glutinous rice flour and water that has been either boiled and served in a hot broth or syrup or else deep-fried. Tangyuan can be either small or large and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival, but also served as a dessert on Chinese wedding day, Winter Solstice Festival, and any occasion such as family reunion, because of a homophone for union.

History of Tangyuan

Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to this food. During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the name was officially fixed as Yuanxiao, derived from the Yuanxiao Festival, which is used in northern China. This name literally means "first evening", being the first full moon after Chinese New Year, which is always a new moon.

However in southern China, they are called Tangyuan. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai's rule from 1912 to 1916, he disliked the name Yuanxiao because it sounded identical to "remove Yuan" in Chinese; thus he gave orders to change the name to Tangyuan. This new moniker literally means "round balls in soup" or "round dumplings in soup". In the Hakka and Cantonese varieties of Chinese, Tangyuan is pronounced as "tong rhen" or "tong jyun".

For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, tangyuan is typically eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls in which they are served symbolize family cohesion.

Types of Tangyuan

While tangyuan was originally a food eaten during festivals, it has become a dessert consumed year-round rather than simply a festival food. For instance, tangyuan is traditionally in white color. Yet, in order to cater to consumers’ needs and changing tastes, dessert specialty shops create new flavors or colors of tangyuan by substituting the traditional filling with chocolate, mashed potato and pumpkin paste. Thus, tangyuan has already evolved into a dessert that is consumed by Chinese from time to time throughout the year and is no longer limited to festivals. In both filled and unfilled tangyuan, the main ingredient is glutinous rice flour. A filled tangyuan's filling can be either sweet or savory.

Tangyuan’s Fillings

- Chocolate paste

- Fruit preserves

- Sesame paste

- Chopped peanuts

- Lotus seed paste

- Red bean paste (Azuki bean paste)

- A piece of cut sugarcane rock candy

Malaysian Indians

Malaysian Indians or Indian Malaysians is a local ethnic group in Malaysia. The group is defined as local Malaysians of Indian or South Asian ancestry. Today, they form the third largest group in Malaysia after the Malays and the Chinese.