Most Chinese folks here are probably aware of the delectable delights known as tang yuan. These little balls of sticky rice dough filled with sweet, rich sesame seed paste are boiled and served in its cooking liquid as a soup. These are typically served to the whole family as part of Yuanxiao, a festival that celebrates the first full moon of the Chinese New Year.
I prepared a store-bought batch today, tradition be damned. I don't often get the chance to invoke tradition, so usually I settle for an excuse like "I feel like it." While tang yuan can also be made without the filling (in which case making from scratch is ridiculously easy), those are usually used to add texture to other dessert soups rather than consumed by themselves. Boiled dough balls are rather bland. (At least matzo ball soup is made in chicken broth.)
Though sesame seed paste is my favorite, tang yuan can also be filled with various other mixes. A friend of mine told me her favorite was a peanut filling, which I had honestly never heard of until then. In my experience, peanut butter isn't all that different in taste to a sesame paste, and I've definitely substituted the former for the latter in things like cold mixed noodles before.
Frankly, I absolutely love things made from sticky rice (or glutinous rice, if that's what you want to call it). I'm rather at a loss to describe the texture of things like nian gao or tang yuan - they're a bit like gnocchi, except chewier, and maybe softer. Unfortunately, neither my parents nor I have run into many Americans who like the texture - an observation made after one too many pot luck parties where they're left uneaten. (Bring them to an Asian gathering though, and they'll be gone in an instant.)
Perhaps one of these days I'll do a feature on things you can do with sticky rice.
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