Monday — Winter Solstice (Dong Zhi 冬至) celebration. The Chinese festival marker eaten with the traditional tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) at the family gathering.

We had:

Tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) in sweet ginger soup

Winter Solstice (冬至) is the Chinese festival marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In Chinese tradition, it’s considered as important as Chinese New Year for family reunions. The festival eats are the tang yuan (汤圆) — glutinous rice balls that symbolise family togetherness because of their round shape (圆 = round = complete = togetherness).

The tang yuan came in multiple variations:

Plain unfilled tang yuan (small round balls, no filling)
Black sesame paste filled (the classic version, with the molten sesame paste centre)
Peanut paste filled
Pandan-flavoured (green-tinted)
Sometimes savoury versions exist but the sweet version is the standard

The proper tang yuan is made fresh from glutinous rice flour and water dough, shaped by hand into balls (filled or unfilled), then boiled in sweet ginger soup until they float to the surface (the signal that they’re cooked through).

The sweet ginger soup was the broth. Made by boiling fresh ginger with rock sugar and pandan leaves, sometimes with a touch of brown sugar for depth. The ginger provides the warming spice that fits the winter solstice theme — even in tropical Singapore where winter doesn’t really exist, the festival traditions still call for the warming ginger-and-tang-yuan combination.

Texture was the test. The proper tang yuan should be soft and chewy from the glutinous rice (the QQ chew that’s similar to mochi), with the filling either staying intact (for the unfilled balls) or providing the molten centre when you bite through (for the filled versions).

The filled tang yuan with the sesame paste was the highlight. Bite through the QQ glutinous rice exterior, the warm sweet black sesame paste pours out — the temperature and texture contrast is the entire appeal.

Winter Solstice is one of those Chinese festivals that’s quieter than Chinese New Year but still important — the family gathering, the symbolic tang yuan, the small celebration that anchors the December calendar before the year-end.

By December 21, 2020 was about to wind down. The Winter Solstice meal was the small reflective marker before the year closed.

Overall: 4.5 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Excellent Winter Solstice tang yuan — keeping the tradition.

Original IG post