Passport & Plate - Tong Yuen
Hong Kong | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Tong Yuen Dumplings:
— 8 oz. glutinous rice flour
— 1/2 cup water
— 1/4 cup black sesame seeds
— 1/2 stick butter
Ginger Soup:
— 5 cups water
— 1 cup sugar (all white or 1/2 white and 1/2 brown)
— 4 oz. ginger
— 1/2 teaspoon sweet osmanthus (optional)
— 2 screwpine leaves (optional)
How to prepare this recipeLightly toast the black sesame seeds on medium stove settings. Once the seeds become aromatic or start popping, remove them from the heat.
Use a food processor to grind the seeds into a fine consistency. If you don’t have a food processor a coffee grinder works great or you can do it by hand!
Once finely ground, mix the seeds, sugar and butter together in a pan over light heat. Continue stirring until thoroughly mixed. Then set the filling aside by chilling it in the fridge — this is important for getting it to set!
Prepare the ginger soup, peel and pound the ginger. Next, boil the ginger and water for 10-15 minutes. Then, add the sugar and boil for an additional 5-10 minutes.
While the soup is boiling, begin to prepare the dumpling wrapper. In a big bowl, mix the glutinous rice flour with water until it creates a dough-like texture. Add more flour as needed.
To create the dumpling, grab a piece of dough and form a ball. Flatten it in your hand before adding a small amount of black sesame filling to the center. Then, pinch all edges of the wrapper together, and roll it back into a ball. Place the dumplings on a plate with a small amount of extra flour to keep them from sticking.
Once all dumplings have been made, heat a pot of boiling water. Drop the dumplings into the boiling water. As soon as they float to the top, transfer them into the ginger soup.
Serve immediately and enjoy. Just be sure to serve the dumplings in even numbers!
The story behind this recipeI never knew about Tong Yuen until my first visit to Hong Kong.
I had been studying abroad for a year in Japan while my boyfriend was left behind in the US. After not seeing each other for 6 months, we decided it would be great if we could meet in Hong Kong for the holidays. Being from there originally, he had not been home in 6 years to see his family, so plane tickets were booked.
To my surprise he proposed when we reunited in Hong Kong. I was filled with so many different emotions, and excited to meet the family that I would now be marrying into.
Together we had a big Chinese reunion meal to celebrate and that night was when I was introduced to tong yuen.
Tong yuen are sweet rice balls (like Japanese mochi) and are one of the many auspicious foods eaten during Chinese New Year. They are usually filled with sesame (my favorite) or peanut and are served in a ginger soup. At first I didn’t like the ginger, but now I’ve come to appreciate even that.
The name "tong yuen" is a homophone for the word “union”, which is why they are always served at family reunions and holiday dinners. They’re also round in shape, and roundness is used to symbolize togetherness and unity in Chinese culture.
This is why round dumplings are served always in round bowls while seated at a round table (usually with round lanterns hanging overhead)!
It’s always about family! And now I was finally meeting and enjoying a meal with my new family.
See? What a nice thing for families to eat together. For such small little dumplings, they carry such a big meaning.
And now I’m sharing the recipe so that you can try them at home with your own family!
