Sweet Rice Dumplings - 汤圆 (Tang Yuan)

It is winter solstice today for the Chinese.  It marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year in winter.  After this day the days in the year will start getting warmer and the new year is coming soon.  In Chinese tradition, it is a day where many families will eat tang yuan (sweet rice dumplings).  The eating of tang yuan symbolises putting on another year in age.  The shapes of the dumplings are round and served in a bowl and eaten with family in hopes of harmony and luck for family in the coming year and it is time for reunion.   In Singapore, we don't have winter, but we still make rice dumplings and carry on the tradition from our ancestors.

I recall when I was younger my mother would go the wet market early in the morning to buy back two bags of wet rice flour, one white and one red and then we would make the dumplings into small balls for her to cook. In occasional years, when she was in a good mood, she would then wrap each ball was a piece of gula melaka (coconut palm sugar).  She liked me to help as I had small hands and could make really small rice dumpling balls.  We used to say that you need to eat as many number of balls as your age. It was possible then, but not possible for me now.

In recent years, these rice dumplings are mass produced by factories all year round with very fanciful fillings like black sesame, peanut or red bean. I did like it when they were just started in the market.  But nowadays, I really missed the raditional ones, with no filling and just with simple sugared syrup - I guess this is a sure sign of getting old when you start missing your childhood food. This I only get to eat once a year when my mother-in-law will make for winter solstice.  But this year is special because my grandmother (in law) passed away and according to tradition

After my cancer, I try as far as possible to avoid food colouring, so this time I decided to "colour" my rice dumplings naturally.

Three Coloured Rice Dumplings (Tang Yuan) - 三色汤圆 

We will start with the orange dumplings first (because they require the most work), then the green ones and finally the white ones.
In terms of flour, I only had 1 packet (500g) of glutinous rice flour to make all three types of dumplings with excess.

My Three colours Tang Yuan (Rice Dumplings)

Orange Coloured (Sweet Potato) Tang Yuan 

1 piece of sweet potato  (skinned)  - These are also called sweet yams

Approx. 100g of glutinous rice flour ( I don't measure and I will tell you why later.)
1/2 tsp of corn starch

1/2 cup of water
a pinch of fine (sea) salt - you can use ordinary table salt

Method:

Step 1 :  Cut the sweet potatoes into small pieces. Place the sweet potatoes in a metal or ceramic plate and steam till soften (usually 15 - 20 min).  Test will a fork, the fork should easily pierce through the sweet potatoes when they are done.  I usually make irregular cuts as it creates more surface area and it take a shorter time to steam soft.

Cut sweet potatoes before they are steamed.

Step 2 :  Transfer the steamed sweet potatoes into a mixing bowl while hot and mash with a  fork.  Add in tablespoons by tablespoons of glutinous rice flour while mashing.  When it starts to take shape, you can add in 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch (so that the final balls can be more springy) and a small pinch of salt (to bring out the sweetness).  If the mixture is too dry, then you can add in small drizzle (use a teaspoon), if the mixture is too wet then add in more rice flour.

Mashing the steamed sweet potatoes and flour with a fork.

When the mixture has cooled sufficiently (but still warm to touch) to handle.  You can use your hand to combine everything into a dough which can be handled with hand and not tacky. 

Step 3 :  From this dough, form balls of about 1 cm in diameter.  You can make bigger ones, or smaller ones depending on your liking.  When I was younger I will make real small ones, but my mom would complain that I take forever.  Now I seek a balance.  I like small ones but want speed so 1 cm is about just nice.  Place them on a plate, spacing each ball apart.

Sweet potatoes tangyuan waiting to be cooked.

Now to make the matcha (green ones).  I'll only cook all of them when they are all ready.

Green Coloured (Matcha) Tang Yuan 

Approx. 3 Tbsp of glutinous rice flour + 1/2 tsp of corn starch + 1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup of boiling water
1/2 tsp of matcha (Japanese green tea) powder ( adjust up or down depending on how much matcha you like)

Additional glutinous rice flour to adjust texture

Additional hot water to adjust texture

Method:

Step 1 :  Make 1/2 cup of green tea by dissolving the matcha powder with the boiling water.

Step 2:  Place the mixture of flour into a mixing bowl.  Stir in the hot prepared green tea. Combine well.

Step 3:  If the mixture in 2 is too dry add in some more hot water (don't pour, slowly add in by tsp).  If the mixture in step 2 is too wet then slowly add in some more glutinous rice.  Add just till you can get a dough which combines together but not tacky.  Use your hands to do it when the mixture is not too hot.

Matcha dough waiting to make into balls next.

Step 4: Form small balls of the similar size as in the sweet potatoes rice dumplings and set aside.

Now to move on to the easiest one - the white dumpling balls.

White Coloured (Plain) Tang Yuan 

As you may have guessed there is no flavouring added to this one.  So like the  matcha tangyuan, we have:

Approx. 3 Tbsp of glutinous rice flour + 1/2 tsp of corn starch + 1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup of boiling water

Additional glutinous rice flour to adjust texture

Additional hot water to adjust texture

Repeat Step 2 to Step 4 to make the glutinous rice balls.

Next Step :  Cooking the raw Tang Yuan 

Boil one pot of hot water and prepare one big bowl of ice water.

When boiling, add in the balls one by one.

The balls will first sink to the bottom of the pot and when it is cooked, it will float to the top when it is cooked.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop up the cooked balls when they float up and immediately dunk into the bowl of iced water.

Cooking the glutinous rice balls.  The balls will first sink to the bottom and when cooked you can scoop them up with a slotted spoon.

The rice balls are then dunked in iced water.  They will then start to sink to the bottom.

The cooked balls will no longer stick together

The cooked tangyuan that has cooled down and ready to be added into the syrup base.

Last Step :  Making the Syrup Base

Medium Pot of Water

Brown Sugar to Taste

Pandanus leaves (washed, torn into strips and tied into the knot)

Cook everything in a pot till all the sugar has melted and the mixture has boiled.

Once ready, you can then off the flame and either add in the rice dumplings, or alternatively, I don't like my rice dumplings too gummy so I add the rice dumplings into serving bowl with water and pour in the syrup.

Boiling the brown sugar.  This looks dark as I am using the Okinawa brown sugar. 

The dumplings served with the syrup base.  You can definitely add in more syrup.

Other notes:

1.  There is a lot of flexibility in the making of dumplings.  You can use pumpkin, other types of colours of sweet potato, beetroot juice instead of water, flower tea in making the dumplings.

2.  For syrup base, there can be variations too.  You can cook sweet mung bean soup as base, substitute brown sugar for plain sugar, or use palm sugar (gula melaka) - which my mother in law uses etc.  The possibilities are endless.

3.  My mum used to wrap each dumpling with a small hard piece of gular melaka so that when we eat the sweetness will burst into the mouth.  You can try that too.