The Dong Zhi (冬至) or Winter Solstice Festival is one of the most significant festivals celebrated by the Chinese and many other East Asian nations. This year it is celebrated on the 22nd December.
Most Chinese families gather during Dong Zhi to pay homage for a good year, and celebrate it by eating tang yuan, a traditional food made out of rice flour stuffed with sesame seeds or red bean paste served along a clear soup made of sugar and water and seasoned with pandan leaves and ginger or in any other type of soup that you can opt for. It is a time to be with families to spend time together.
Recipe for tang yuan soup.
Ready made tang yuan flour can be bought from the wet market . They now come in many flavors like pandan, beetroot, pumpkin and original plain white ones. I chose beetroot for the red color, pumpkin for the yellow and the white to make them more colorful. Red bean paste can also be bought ready made in small packets. I boiled some red bean soup and also another smaller pot of clear soup of pandan and ginger to have a bit of a variation. Divide the tang yuan flour and red bean paste into similar portions. Size of tang yuan is own individual preference, Wrap the red bean paste with the flour and roll on both palms to make into nice round balls. Bring a pot of water to boil and put in all the flour balls. Tang yuan balls are cooked when they are all floating. Dish out and serve in soup of your choice.
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