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22 December, 2011

The Extreme of Winter

It's finally this time of the year where friends and family gather to make "Tang Yuan" (汤圆). The Winter Solstice Festival, or commonly known as Dōngzhì Festival is one of my favourites throughout the year! 冬至 in Chinese literally means "the Extreme of Winter", that's the title of the blog entry todae :)

I can be proud this year because this is the first year 
I make these glutinous rice balls by myself!

From the dough to the balls, I manage to complete the process. Can't believe that, coz' I never cook and I have less than 1% knowledge in this whole cooking thing.

In just 3 simple steps, I can make tasty tang yuans :D

 Step 1: Knead the dough into tiny balls 

Step 2: Boil them in plain water until they float (Approximately 5 to 10 minutes), 
then transfer them into a  boiled broth of brown sugar and water. 

 Step 3: Serve them while hot!

Left: Red Bean Paste ; Right: Peanut Paste 

Colourless but the surprise is inside the rice balls! I love tang yuans filled with various pastes to enhance the yummy-ness of the whole thing.  Red beans and peanut butter are the most common ones but nowadays tang yuan comes in many exciting flavours, for example the Pineapple Paste Tang Yuan! Ever tried before? 

 As for my Mum, she loves cooking colourful Tang Yuan but without fillings. 
Yes these look very appealing and that's the labour of love from my most respectful Mama :) 


Along with this festival, Mama prepared some homemade dishes for the reunion dinner of the day. I guess for most traditional Chinese, the winter solstice festival is one of the most important festivals other than Chinese New Year. 


#1 Steamed Arrowhead with Chinese Fermented Sausages

It's my Mum's favourite dish during festive seasons, that's why the only time I get to eat this is during Chinese festivals and New Year. Other than that, I have no chance to enjoy this :(

 #2 Braised Chinese Mushrooms with Oyster Sauce and Baby Abalones

Another authentic Chinese dish--- I don't know how great does it taste in the Chinese restaurants out there, all I know is Mama's cooking is the best! :D

#3 Fried Crispy Prawns 
 This is too oily to suit my taste, so I would never touch this.

#4 Leek with Oyster Sauce 
Another favourite of mine, which I get to eat almost every week!

Once again, Happy Winter Solstice to all,
and do give Christmas a warm welcome soon! 

Next post: Buffet for Christmas dinner 
Stay tuned! :)

40 comments:

  1. Mother is a gem in a family. You are blessed. Your mother home cooked dishes are wonderful. Happy Dong Zhi and Merry Christmas to you.

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  2. Hi Sheohyan, i agree that the gem in the family is always the Mum! thank you and enjoy this festive season too!

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  3. Your mom's dishes! Make me drool! Happy Winter Solstice Festival to you and your family!

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  4. Never do tang yuan before because every year my mum made and I just go home and eat.  Lol!  Maybe next year when I officially move into my new house. Happy Winter Solstice and Merry Xmas

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  5. hehe! gimme some too! =P  Happy winter Solstice to u babe! :)

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  6. Can i self invite to your dinner... looked so yummy !!! Just happened now eating tong yuen while reading your post! Happy Winter Solstice babe!

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  7. can tumpang makan at your place ka?

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  8. Happy Winter Solstice to you, the Chinese fermented sausages really makes me drool,yumm!!

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  9. Happy Winter Solstice to you too. Have not been eating those 'mothballs' for decades. haha

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  10. Beautiful-looking tong yuan, both yours and your mom's. And interesting flavors too! I've never tried pineapple tong yuan before, but it sounds fruity and refreshing :D

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  11. Yea, its easy making tang yuan.. and they are simply yummy!!

    Happy DongZhi to you!
    -Hayley-

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  12. Omg.... i want the sausages nom nom nom

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  13. I quite like the dessert you made especially the one with the red bean and I can see your mum cooks fantastic food.  

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  14. hi Dahling, thanks for your compliment and wishes, same goes to you!

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  15. Hi Rose, you should try it out someday because it's fun :) happy festive season to you too!

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  16. Hi Alien, i saw your blog has plenty of tangyuans also :P haha! same goes to u!

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  17. Hi Jess, glad to hear that you're enjoying the dessert while reading this blog entry. hope you feel the labour of love of the tang yuan also! 

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  18. hi Smallkucing, the food is already in my stomach :P muahaha

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  19. hi BiBi, i hope you enjoy this post as much as i do :P happy dong zhi to you too!

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  20. Hi Bananaz, the mothballs are super tasty unlike those chemical ones :P happy dong zhi to you too!

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  21. Hi Sean, thanks for dropping by, the pineapple tang yuan is really a fresh idea, perhaps i should try making them next year!

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  22. hi Hayley, it's so simply yet delicious right? agree with you ^^ enjoy this festive season too!

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  23. hi Junfook, the sausages are fattening eh :P

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  24. Hi Nava, you love red beans? it's simple to make actually, thanks for your compliment towards my mum's dishes too!

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  25. hi Slee, thank you and same goes to u :)

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  26. Yummy! I love those with sesame fillings!

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  27. Wow, yours with read bean paste. Anyways, Happy 'Tang Yuan' Festival.

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  28. I love tang yuan with gula Melaka filling, love it oozing out in my mouth when i bite into it!

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  29. hi christopher, sesame looks nice too, i'd love to try making some next year!

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  30. hi Luporti, red beans taste nice with the dough :) enjoy the festive season too!

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  31. hi choi yen, me too! but the tang yuan will easily get burst when it's boiled for too long.

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  32. What a festive spread! My family doesn't follow the tradition & I don't eat tang yuan. But u did a really great job with the desserts :) Well done!

    BTW, just did a review for Samsung. For some last minute shopping or u may wanna drop hints to your partner to get u this awesome gadget. Hohoho! Chk it out!Samsung Galaxy Note Review: Is It A Phone Or A Tablet?

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  33. hi Shirley, hope you enjoy the coming festive season and huge turkey feast then :) thanks for recommending the Galaxy Note, but I've just got myself a S Plus due to the budget constraint. nice review anyway!

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  34. omigosh... that looks so awesome! haha i wish i can celebrate this with my family... was celebrating it with friends... :D

    Happy holidays!

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  35. happy winter solstice babe.

    your mum cooked up a feast again. i am so envious. can i come over for dinner soon? hehehe.

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  36. hi Daniel, glad to hear that you celebrated with your friends! it must have been fun there :)

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  37. hi Missy, my mum always cook feast during special days, haha i will include you for the next meal then :P

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  38. trung tâm dạy kế toán tại tphcm
    trung tâm đào tạo kế toán tại quảng ninh
    học kế toán tại thanh xuân
    khoá học kế toán thuế
    học kế toán tại long biên
    luyện thi toeic nói nữa đâu! Ta tin rằng bốn vị Thiên sứ kia phỏng chừng đã phun ra hết
    rồi! Một , hai... !"

    " Ặc ặc, ta nói, để ta nói!" Thiên sứ Pháp Lạp Lợi hết sức gân cổ cố la
    lên. Từ vẻ mặt thống khổ của hắn, Đoạn Vân phỏng chừng một cước của mình
    sử dụng chân khí có vẻ hơi nặng.

    " Tây phương Thần giới do Quang Minh Thần Hoàng A Tu La thống lĩnh, dưới
    trướng có sáu đại Thần vương, mà mỗi Thần vương đều thống lĩnh trên dưới
    mười vạn Thiên sứ bộ đội! Thiên sứ chúng ta dựa theo số cánh của Thiên
    sứ mà chia ra đẳng cấp thực lực. Chúng ta đây chỉ có một đôi cánh, đều
    là Thiên sứ binh lính bình thường, ta tương đương với tam giai Thiên sứ,
    ngươi xem trong đám Thiên sứ này chỉ có vài người tam giai Thiên sứ, còn
    lại đều là nhị giai Thiên sứ."

    " Chờ chút, vậy nhất giai Thiên sứ đâu?" Đoạn Vân nghi hoặc hỏi.

    ' Kỳ thật chúng ta trước đây đều là nhất giai Thiên sứ, sau khi chúng ta
    ăn thịt vài Thiên sứ thì chúng ta liên tục có tiến hóa!" Pháp Lạp Lợi
    giải thích.

    Nghe thế, Đoạn Vân liền thay đổi cách nhìn, với sáu mươi vạn quân Thiên
    sứ bộ đội cũng không sợ hãi chút nào. Cứ theo sự phân chia thực lực đẳng
    cấp này mà đoán chừng thì nhất giai Thiên sứ đại khái tương đương với

    trung tâm đào tạo kế toán tại nghệ an
    học kế toán tại cầu giấy
    trung tâm kế toán tại cầu giấy
    học kế toán tại bình dương
    tiếng anh cho người mới bắt đầu
    trung tâm kế toán tại đà nẵng
    học kế toán ở đồng nai

    ReplyDelete

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