This glutinous rice balls dessert with filling(tang yuan) is a family favorite, especially during Chinese lunar new year.  On the last day, traditional Chinese celebrate lantern festival. "Tang yuan" literally translates to "soup ball". However, the homophone pronunciation of "tang yuan"  also means togetherness, reunion, and the gathering of families so that is why it has become a symbolic dish during the lunar new year.

I like it because it is so easy to make and if you have kids or elderly parents, it is a fun "craft" to get them involved in.  It's a nice way to have get the family to sit around and do something together.

The texture is soft, somewhat sticky and chewy. The glutinous rice balls are usually made as plain white balls, filled with a filling such as black sesame, red bean or peanut paste or in my household, just colored for panache and filling identity.  They are usually served in a bowl of a lightly sweetened clear liquid (soup), but I prefer a lightly sweetened milk mixture for enhanced nutrition.  Although I make this glutinous rice balls dessert (tang yuan) throughout the year,  Chinese New Year celebration is not complete without it!

Tips for making glutinous rice balls dessert with filling (tang yuan)

Rolling the rice balls is probably the most time consuming part of this recipe, but rest assured, there are ways to speed up the process.  For me, my girls and recently my elderly parents, LOVE making this!  How did I get my girls to LOVE making this?  I made this into a craft. With vials of food coloring, I told them to make their best, most colorful creation!  

Glutinous Rice Flour.

When making these glutinous rice balls, make sure you pick up the correct rice flour. GLUTINOUS rice flour will lend itself to the soft, chewy balls.  DO NOT USE THE REGULAR RICE FLOUR.

Rice to water ratio.

The amount of water varies depending on the type of glutinous rice that was milled. The liquid is about 80-90% of the weight of the glutinous rice flour. However, always have extra glutinous rice flour on hand in case you need to add just a little more glutinous rice flour in for a better, workable consistency.

Water temperature.

As I've been working with dumpling doughs, I've realized that many recipes require adding boiling water.  The addition of boiling water increases the speed at which the flour absorbs the liquid which results in a smoother, more pliable dough that is silkier and easier to work with.  This process is called gelatinization.  For this recipe, adding just the boiling water, the dough appears very sticky at first.  However, as the dough cools and the glutinous flour hydrates, it becomes less sticky.  Allow to hot dough to cool down by spreading it out like a pancake for fifteen minutes before using your hands to work the dough.

Making colored glutinous rice balls (tang yuan).

Glutinous rice balls can be colored completely naturally or with food coloring.

Vegetable juices such as carrot, spinach and beet can be used as natural food coloring. Otherwise, drops of food coloring are a quick and more flexible way of making colored balls.

If you would like to have solid colored balls,  mixi the food coloring into the boiling water first and then add the colored water into the glutinous rice flour.  Otherwise, you can add the food coloring directly onto the dough balls creating a more marbled effect.  I usually differentiate the fillings with different colored balls.

Filling.

Traditional sweet fillings are usually red bean paste, black sesame paste, peanut and mung bean.  These fillings can be store-bought or home made.  Home made filling can be customized to your preference of sweetness and mouthfeel. 

Interesting and unique fillings can also be made.  I've made a chocolate hazelnut  and an almond butter filling which were different.

The filling needs to be hard so that it is easier to work with.  Place the filling into plastic wrap and freeze it for an hour to harden it, cut the somewhat hardened filling into cubes and continue to freeze until solid.  It is difficult, but not impossible to cut the filling when it's frozen solid.  However, it's very difficult to cut and work with the filling when it's at room temperature.