TöngJyũn (food) / 湯圓
Jul 22nd, '11, 15:44
TöngJyũn (food) / 湯圓
A bowl of tangyuan
Traditional Chinese 湯圓 or 湯團
Simplified Chinese 汤圆 or 汤团
Hanyu Pinyin tāngyuán or tāngtuán
[show]Transcriptions
Yuanxiao
Chinese 元宵
[show]Transcriptions
Tāngyuán is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao, or the Lantern Festival.
Contents
[hide]
1 Name
1.1 Cultural Significance
2 Ingredients
3 Serving
4 Availability
5 Similar dishes
6 See also
[edit] Name
Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to tangyuan. During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the name was officially settled as yuanxiao, a name derived from the Yuanxiao Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. This name literally means "first evening", being the first full moon after Chinese New Year, which is always a new moon. This name prevails in northern China.
In southern China, however, they are called tangyuan or tangtuan. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai's rule from 1912 to 1916, they disliked the name yuanxiao because it sounded identical to "remove Yuan" (元宵),[citation needed] and so they changed the name to tangyuan instead. This new moniker literally means "round balls in soup". Tangtuan similarly means "round dumplings in soup". In the two major Chinese dialects of far southern China, Hakka and Cantonese, "tangyuan" is pronounced as tong rhen and tong jyun respectively. The term "tangtuan" (Hakka: tong ton, Cantonese: tong tyun) is not as commonly used in these dialects as tangyuan.
[edit] Cultural Significance
For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, Tangyuan is usually eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, come to symbolise the family togetherness.
[edit] Ingredients
In both filled and unfilled tangyuan, the main ingredient is glutinous rice flour. For filled tangyuan, the filling can be either sweet or savoury.
Sweet fillings can be:
A piece of cut sugarcane rock candy
Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) - the most common filling
Red bean paste (Azuki bean paste)
Chopped peanuts and sugar
[edit] Serving
Tangyuan are cooked in boiling water. Filled tangyuan are served along with the water in which it is boiled (hence the "soup" in the name).
Unfilled tangyuan are served as part of a sweet dessert soup (known in Cantonese cuisine as tong sui, which literally means "sugar water"). Common types include:
Red bean soup
Black sesame soup
Ginger and rock sugar
Fermented glutinous rice (醪糟 or 酒釀), Sweet Osmanthus and rock sugar.
[edit] Availability
The most notable[why?] varieties come from Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province. However, they are traditionally eaten throughout China.
Tangyuan have also come to be associated with the Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year in various regions. Today, the food is eaten all year round. Mass-produced tangyuan are commonly found in the frozen food section of Asian supermarkets in China and overseas.
[edit] Similar dishes
In southern Vietnam, a similar dish, called chè xôi nước, is served in a mild, sweet liquid flavored with grated ginger root. In northern Vietnam, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay are also very similar, with the latter being served with coconut milk. In the Philippines, the dish ginataang bilo-bilo is also served in coconut milk, and sometimes local produce such as plantains (saba), tapioca, and/or sweet potatoes are cooked in. Gulab jamun is an Indian dessert that is made of fried dairy dough balls served in a bowl of syrup.
[edit] See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tangyuan
Oshiruko
Mochi
Chè xôi nước
Chap Goh Mei
--------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangyuan_(food)
A bowl of tangyuan
Traditional Chinese 湯圓 or 湯團
Simplified Chinese 汤圆 or 汤团
Hanyu Pinyin tāngyuán or tāngtuán
[show]Transcriptions
Yuanxiao
Chinese 元宵
[show]Transcriptions
Tāngyuán is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao, or the Lantern Festival.
Contents
[hide]
1 Name
1.1 Cultural Significance
2 Ingredients
3 Serving
4 Availability
5 Similar dishes
6 See also
[edit] Name
Historically, a number of different names were used to refer to tangyuan. During the Yongle era of the Ming Dynasty, the name was officially settled as yuanxiao, a name derived from the Yuanxiao Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival. This name literally means "first evening", being the first full moon after Chinese New Year, which is always a new moon. This name prevails in northern China.
In southern China, however, they are called tangyuan or tangtuan. Legend has it that during Yuan Shikai's rule from 1912 to 1916, they disliked the name yuanxiao because it sounded identical to "remove Yuan" (元宵),[citation needed] and so they changed the name to tangyuan instead. This new moniker literally means "round balls in soup". Tangtuan similarly means "round dumplings in soup". In the two major Chinese dialects of far southern China, Hakka and Cantonese, "tangyuan" is pronounced as tong rhen and tong jyun respectively. The term "tangtuan" (Hakka: tong ton, Cantonese: tong tyun) is not as commonly used in these dialects as tangyuan.
[edit] Cultural Significance
For many Chinese families in mainland China as well as overseas, Tangyuan is usually eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, come to symbolise the family togetherness.
[edit] Ingredients
In both filled and unfilled tangyuan, the main ingredient is glutinous rice flour. For filled tangyuan, the filling can be either sweet or savoury.
Sweet fillings can be:
A piece of cut sugarcane rock candy
Sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with sugar and lard) - the most common filling
Red bean paste (Azuki bean paste)
Chopped peanuts and sugar
[edit] Serving
Tangyuan are cooked in boiling water. Filled tangyuan are served along with the water in which it is boiled (hence the "soup" in the name).
Unfilled tangyuan are served as part of a sweet dessert soup (known in Cantonese cuisine as tong sui, which literally means "sugar water"). Common types include:
Red bean soup
Black sesame soup
Ginger and rock sugar
Fermented glutinous rice (醪糟 or 酒釀), Sweet Osmanthus and rock sugar.
[edit] Availability
The most notable[why?] varieties come from Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province. However, they are traditionally eaten throughout China.
Tangyuan have also come to be associated with the Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year in various regions. Today, the food is eaten all year round. Mass-produced tangyuan are commonly found in the frozen food section of Asian supermarkets in China and overseas.
[edit] Similar dishes
In southern Vietnam, a similar dish, called chè xôi nước, is served in a mild, sweet liquid flavored with grated ginger root. In northern Vietnam, bánh trôi (also called bánh trôi nước) and bánh chay are also very similar, with the latter being served with coconut milk. In the Philippines, the dish ginataang bilo-bilo is also served in coconut milk, and sometimes local produce such as plantains (saba), tapioca, and/or sweet potatoes are cooked in. Gulab jamun is an Indian dessert that is made of fried dairy dough balls served in a bowl of syrup.
[edit] See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tangyuan
Oshiruko
Mochi
Chè xôi nước
Chap Goh Mei
--------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangyuan_(food)
- Attachments
-