Salty Glutinous Rice Balls（咸汤圆）

On the night of the winter solstice, every household is having dinner with their family members. Just like the Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival, make dumplings, make glutinous rice balls, and have a big meal. It is implying reunion and happiness for the whole family.

It's customary to have glutinous rice balls (Tangyuan汤圆) on the winter solstice. Tangyuan is a must-have food for the winter solstice. It is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour. There is a folk saying that “you will be one year older after eating glutinous rice balls”.

Even restaurants also serve glutinous rice balls as a promotional menu on that day.  On the dining table, Cantonese treat sweet glutinous rice balls seem to dominate.  Both of my parents are Cantonese, yet my mother never makes sweet "tangyuan" on this day; instead, she always makes a pot of salty glutinous rice balls. The filling is not wrapped in glutinous rice balls, but glutinous rice is rolled into balls and boiled into a soup base with other ingredients.

Chewy glutinous rice balls, fresh prawns, dried shrimp, vegetables, and a flavorful soup base with distinctively flavoured mushrooms are all combined. The soup is tasty and has a distinctive flavour. You will adore it.

Although the small glutinous rice balls are not filled with any fillings, each glutinous rice ball is tastefully handmade by the family. To make them have a springy texture, they must be made with glutinous rice flour. The soft and glutinous taste is the most authentic.

Do glutinous rice balls need to soak in cold water?

If you want soft rice balls, you can add them directly to the soup and let them cook with the other ingredients. If, like me, you prefer chewy rice balls, cook them separately until done and then soak them in cool water for five minutes before adding them to the soup.

 

 

INGREDIENTS

150g glutinous rice flour

80ml warm water

Some red food colouring

1 little chicken stock or water (soup)

2 cups water (to cook the rice balls)

4 dry shiitake mushrooms

20g dried shrimp

3 fresh baby sweetcorn, cut into small cubes

150g shrimps, cleaned and deveined

100g sliced pork, marinated with ¼ tsp salt and ½ tsp cornstarch

1 whole head of broccoli cut into florets

Salt, pepper, and sesame oil to taste

 

METHOD

1. Add a little water to the glutinous rice flour in a mixing bowl, stir with chopsticks or a rubber spatula a few times to produce flocs, and then use your hands to knead the mixture into a smooth dough. Divided the dough in half. One half is used to make pink glutinous rice balls by adding a little food colouring, while the other half is used to make white glutinous rice balls.

NOTE:

The common practice is to add a little water if the dough feels too dry. In fact, holding back a little of the water from the recipe, and adding it in incrementally, going by feel rather than measurement, is the preferred way to get a perfect dough.

2. Divide the dough into small portions and roll it into small balls to the size of your liking.

3. Rinse and soak dried shrimp and shiitake mushrooms in adequate water until soft, squeeze dry. Shredded the mushrooms for later use.

4. Pour 2 cups of water into a wok, bring it to a boil, then put the glutinous rice balls into the wok, and give it a stir to prevent the rice balls from sticking to the bottom of the wok. Cook the rice balls until they begin to float to the top of the wok. Take out the rice balls and place them in cool water to soak.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok, sauté the shredded mushrooms and dry shrimp until fragrant, add in the marinated sliced pork then quickly stir fry them until turns pale.

4. Pour the chicken stock into the wok and bring it to a boil. Add in the baby sweetcorn, fresh shrimp, cooked rice balls, and broccoli. Season with salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Give it another 5 minutes to cook until the soup is bubbling. Serve hot.

 

The soup is full of fresh ingredients and paired with the chewy glutinous rice balls, and the taste of the soup is very rich. If your taste is heavy, you must not miss this recipe