Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice Festival which is known as Dong Zhi in Chinese. It is a day where families get-together and eat tang yuan (a sweet dessert which consist of glutinous rice balls). As we will be at work tomorrow, I made the tang yuan tonight so that mother-in-law can offer some to the ancestors during her prayers in the morning. Ashley couldn’t wait to roll the the colourful balls.
Waiting for mommy to start 🙂
I bought some colourful rice flour from the market this morning. The pink flour got its shades from the dragonfruit juice hence there are some black seeds mixed with it. Ashley rolled most of the tang yuan 🙂 We have big, medium and small sizes in pink, yellow and white. According to the information I gathered online, the round shapes of the tang yuan symbolizes wholeness and unity. The elders say that the different sizes signify a family which consists of the parents, children and grandchildren.
I cooked the tang yuan in a pot of hot water. Once they float, it means that they are cooked. Then I scooped them up and put them into a bowl of ice water. This will make the tang yuan tangy 🙂 In another pot, my mil cooked the sweet syrup with ginger, sugar and screwpine leave (pandan leave). Add the tang yuan in when the sweet syrup is done.
Ashley prepared a bowl for her daddy who was so happy that his little one rolled the tang yuan tonight. He said they are the best he had ever tasted 🙂
Have a Happy and Meaningful Dong Zhi Festival Everyone.
oh, that’s nice! wish my mum is here!
Andy sure knows how to please his darling daughter. hehe!
Last night, April went to her ex-babysitter’s house for 3D2N stay. So, only May helped her grandma rolling tang yuen. This year, my MIL mixed the colour herself. She used pumpkin for the yellow colour, the pandan leaves for the green and only used pink colouring for the pink one.
Later I will go home for lunch. I hope I can have a bowl of tang yuen too.
Yummy tang yuan! I already had mine on Monday =)
Happy Winter Solstice Festival to you and family!
Happy Winter Solstice to you and your family!
Yes, its good to get the children to help to roll the colorful balls. At least they will have a happy and deep impression of this festival, which to the Chinese, is actually more important than CNY. Well done Ashley!
I wanna eat!!!
A colourful tang yuan..
Happy Dong Zhi!
how come i didn’t think of dragon fruit? So much healthier than using colors! btw, so the yellow ones got the color from?