From Ancient to Modern: Reuniting Family and Friends with Tangyuan
Figure 1: A celebrated dish in China made with glutinous rice balls submerged in sweet soup, Photo: Shutterstock
What is Tangyuan?
As the dish’s name implies, it means balls in soup. It is usually composed of dough, filling, and soup. The dough is made from glutinous rice flour, which has stayed consistent. A possible reason for the unchanging ingredient is its irresistible chewy nature due to a much higher ratio of amylopectin [3]. The soup and filling can be sweet, savory, or even nothing. The type of tangyuan also depends on where it is made in China. The north prefers a sweet version of tangyuan, while the south prefers savory. In Taishan, China, the soup is filled with meats and vegetables with an empty rice ball.
***Credits for photos in citation section below.
The Cultural History Behind Tangyuan
Figure 2: People releasing bright lanterns into the night sky during the Lantern Festival, Photo: Shutterstock
Tangyuan, also known as Yuanxiao, is a traditional dish with almost 1,100 years of history. It is consumed during the Lantern (Yuanxiao) Festival, hence the name, or during the Winter Solstice (Dongzhi) Festival. More specifically, it is eaten on the last day of the 15-day celebration of the Lantern Festival and during the winter solstice [1] [2].
The dish had not always been named “tangyuan.” The original name was yuanxiao, synonymous with the Lantern Festival. A legend says that Yuan Shikai, the military president in early 19th century China, changed the dishes name from “yuanxiao” to “tangyuan” because yuanxiao sounded like “remove Yuan” in Chinese [1]. This change in the name stuck with people in the south, while the people in the north continued to call them yuanxiao. For uniformity, I will be referring to the dish as Tangyuan.
The dish holds greater meaning in Chinese culture. The name of the dish sounds strikingly similar to the Chinese character 团圆 (tuányuán), which translates into “reunion.” The small glutinous rice balls also look identical to the moon. Therefore, there is a wide belief that eating the dish with family during the full moon will bring happiness and fortune into the new year [1][2].
Memories
Tangyuan has been a custom food in my household while growing up despite living in the United States. I would often enjoy the dish for several days before it goes away until next year. My mom and grandma would make the sweet and savory variations for me to eat. These delectable dishes continue to stick with me even now.
The Goal of the Project
My goal is to recreate a historical recipe of the prized dish consumed during yearly cultural festivals in China. I am also aiming to understand how the recipe has changed over time, beginning from the Song dynasty to the Qing dynasty, then to the current day recipe.
Tangyuan in the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD)
Festivities in the Song Dynasty
Festivities during the Song dynasty were in full throttle. A song scroll painting shows the Chinese people celebrating the Qingming Festival, a day to visit and remember their ancestors [2]. The scroll painting is fascinating because it shows the many food stalls, people from different classes, and the rich culture at the time [4]. The scroll painting of the Qingming Festival indicates that many people come out to celebrate and enjoy themselves during festivals. When it comes to the Lantern Festival, one can only imagine how greater the festival would be.
Figure 3: A scroll painting attributed to Zhang Zeduan depicting a very active and lively scene during the Qingming Festival, Screenshot: Columbia University, Asia for Educators Program
The interactive website with the full scroll painting can be found here
Remaking Tangyuan from the Song Dynasty
Figure 4: A series of vegetarian recipes compiled by Chen Dasou.
The Song tangyuan recipe that I will be recreating is from Dasou Chen’s Vegetable Recipes from Benxin’s Studio, consisting of 20 vegetarian recipes [5]. Each recipe is praised in 16 words, like a poem, which indicates that Chen is a Chinese scholar [6]. The tangyuan recipe begins from the second to the right column.
“Use glutinous millet flour to wrap the sugar and make into a fragrant soup. Roll the glutinous millet flour into lumps, and dot them with sugar cane. Soak by submerging in water, and it is purely sweet and fragrant.”
Deciphering the Recipe
The recipe calls for glutinous millet flour. However, I will be using glutinous rice flour instead. While this does change a significant portion of the dish, another tangyuan recipe written by Pujiang Wu from the Song dynasty uses glutinous rice flour [7]. I can closely compare the more modern recipes by changing the dough from millet flour to rice flour.
Another part of the recipe that I would like to address is “soak by submerging in water.” Robban Toleno, who also remade the same recipe, argues that agarwood-scented honey water may have been used [8]. After asking him directly, he says “沉水” could hint at “沉香木“ (agarwood), which “was occasionally used in tea.”
After further researching, I found that agarwood had multiple uses, including aromatizing food [9]. Adding on to that, I found another primary source written by Zhou Jiaxu, who was an incense expert in the Ming dynasty [10]. One excerpt tells a method of processing agarwood, making a sweet and fragrant soup by “cook[ing it] slowly by using honey water for a whole day.” This would also achieve the “purely sweet and fragrant” profile mentioned in the recipe.
However, agarwood is an endangered species and expensive. It is also difficult to differentiate between authentic and imitation. A video on the history of tangyuan also mentions using osmanthus tea leaves boiled in honey water as a soup base for the rice balls [11]. Therefore, I will be using osmanthus tea leaves instead of agarwood to achieve a scented soup.
I will also be using agave sweetener as a replacement for honey because it is readily available for me.
List of Ingredients
Dough
Glutinous rice flour
Water (cold)
Filling
Sugar cane granules
Soup
Osmanthus flower leaves
Agave sweetener
Making the Dough
The recipe does not specify how to prepare the dough. However, I applied my tacit knowledge to this process. Pour the flour into a large bowl, then add cold water. Knead the dough until the texture is smooth — it should not be crumbly but should not be too sticky. If exposed to the air for too long, it becomes too dry. Add more water to fix the dry dough. I will be using this dough for the remainder of my recipes.
Dotting the Dough with Sugar Cane
I ripped the dough into well-portioned pieces and rolled them into a ball. Next, I made a thumb-sized dot and placed the sugar in. I wrapped it up and rolled it again to achieve a smooth ball. However, whenever I tried to wrap the dough over the sugar, it thinned out the bottom part and broke while rolling it into a ball.
Preparing the Soup
I boiled some water in a small pot and added a bag of osmanthus flower leaves to the pot. The recipe did not say how long to leave it in the pot, but I left it there until it smelled nice and fragrant. I removed the pack of leaves and then added agave sweetener.
Boiling the Tangyuan and the Final Product
Add the tangyuan into the boiling soup. Based on my tacit knowledge, the tangyuan is done when it starts to float to the top. I did end up adding the tea bag back in because I did not think the fragrance was strong enough.
Tangyuan in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)
Yuan Mei’s Way of Eating
Yuan Mei was a prominent literary figure in China. He wrote a book on different foods he has encountered. This book gave historians much insight into the food in China before the 1900s [12]. Although its recipes are not the most detailed, it is enough for people to attempt to interpret how the final dish is made. For this dish, I will not be going into much detail on most of the processes that are the same as Chen’s recipe.
Remaking Tangyuan from the Qing Dynasty
Deciphering the Recipe
Rice Starch Soup Balls
“When one uses rice starch to make soup balls, the resulting items are incredibly smooth and fine. Fill them with a stuffing made of pine nuts, walnuts, rendered lard, and sugar. Likewise, one can also make a filling using tender pork with tendons removed, which has been pounded into a paste and blended with chopped green onions and soy sauce.”
Yuan Mei describes the ingredient to make the dough as “rice starch”; however, it is rice flour. Starch is composed of more than 80% amylopectin, which is what rice flour consists of [3]. There is a sweet filling that is slightly more complex than Chen’s recipe. I will be replacing rendered lard with butter, which is easier to access. Lastly, Yuan Mei introduces a savory version of tangyuan. I will be using ground pork. There is no mention of soup in the recipe, but Lu Li Clark remakes the recipe and boils it in water [11].
List of Ingredients
Dough
Rice flour
Water (cold)
Filling
Pine nuts (sweet)
Walnuts (sweet)
Butter (sweet)
Sugar (sweet)
Ground pork (savory)
Chopped green onions (savory)
Soy sauce (savory)
Blending the Nuts, Butter, and Sugar Together
I added pine nuts and walnuts in a one-to-one ratio. I used 3/4 of a stick of butter and added a fair amount of sugar. I was looking for a mushy consistency that is held together.
Mixing the Savory Ingredients Together
I added green onions to the ground pork, poured soy sauce, then mixed it well.
Dotting the Round Balls and Wrapping Them
Boiling the Tangyuan and the Final Product
Tangyuan in the Modern Era
Made With Lau
This YouTube channel highlights many Chinese dishes that Lau has learned throughout his life. Two videos that show sweet tangyuan and savory tangyuan:
Making Modern Tangyuan
I realized that shaping the dough into a deep well creates a much better tangyuan with minimal breaks. I will not go into details about the remaining process because it is not a historical recipe, but here are the final products:
How has the recipe changed?
While researching and remaking tangyuan, I learned that it is not a restrictive dish. As evident from my rework project, the variations of tangyuan increased over the centuries. Even during the Song dynasty, there was no single recipe for tangyuan. Chen Dasou’s (sugar) and Madam Wu’s (red bean) [7] recipes used different ingredients for their fillings, and Chen even had a sweetened soup for the rice balls. Rather than boiling, Madam Wu’s recipe indicated steaming as a method to make the dish [7]. By the 18th century, there was a savory variation of tangyuan and the incorporation of newer cooking techniques to form a filling that could use nuts. By the modern era, the filling was improved again, and a savory version of the soup became popular. Additionally, there was another method of making tangyuan — you would roll the filling in rice flour while adding water to form the dry, powdery ball [19]. Within the dishes that I made, cooking techniques and an acquired taste for savory food may have been the significant factor in driving the change in the dish. Tangyuan is undoubtedly versatile.
Tangyuan variations based on regions?
Another factor in why there are so many tangyuan variations may lie in the regional differences. Other item materials include Koreans developing their saltpeter-making techniques [15] or the similar, yet different, processes in making Korean and Japanese paper [16][17]. Agarwood is native to Southeast Asia [18], which could indicate that Chen’s recipe originated closer to the south. However, the modern tangyuan is the most solid evidence supporting this factor; the vegetable-filled broth is a Taishan specialty [14], developed because of their taste for savory foods. Until this point, I have been referring to the dish as tangyuan. However, there is an increasing emphasis on the difference between yuanxiao (north) and tangyuan (south). Yuanxiao uses sweet and solid fillings while tangyuan uses soft fillings [19], which may hint at where the recipes came from. On a more trans-regional level, mochi is the Japanese alternative to tangyuan. It is also made of rice flour with the same chewy texture using both the same and different fillings. Therefore, regions can affect the evolution of a dish based on ingredients that are or are not available for them and create different variations. “Tangyuan” and “yuanxiao” may have been synonymous at one point, but we may be witnessing a development into two unique dishes based on their respective regions.
Works Cited:
[1] Yu, Runze. “A Chinese Sweet That's a Homophone for Reunion.” BBC Travel, BBC, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190121-a-chinese-sweet-thats-a-homophone-for-reunion.
[2] Liao, Yan. Food and Festivals of China. Mason Crest Publishers, 2013.
[3] Li, Jianrong, and Yunhwa P Hsieh. “Traditional Chinese Food Technology and Cuisine.” Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15228981/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
[4] Zhang, Zeduan. “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.” [c. 1085-1145]. Columbia University, Asia for Educators Program, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song-scroll/song.html
[5] Chen, Dasou. Vegetable Recipes from Benxin’s Studio S. Yi Wen Yin Shu Guan, 1965, Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
[6] Feng, Jin. “The Female Chef and the Nation: Zeng Yi’s ‘Zhongkui Lu’ (Records from the Kitchen).” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, vol. 28, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1–37, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24886553. Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
[7] Wu, Pujiang. Feedback from Pujiang Wu Clan. Northern Literature and Art Publishing House, 2021.
[8] Toleno, Robban. Premodern Chinese Recipes. 6 July 2020, https://robbantoleno.com/.
[9] Tan, Cheng Seng, et al. “Agarwood Induction: Current Developments and Future Perspectives.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 2019, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00122/full.
[10] Zhou, Jia. Fragrance. Taiwan Shang Wu Yin Shu Guan, 1979. Numerology Encyclopedia, Accessed 6 Apr. 2022.
[11] “1792 Sweet & Savory Tangyuan Recipe/ Brief history of Tangyuan and Chinese Yuan Xiao Festival.” YouTube, uploaded by Hungry for History, 26 Feb. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eerloO6lJM
[12] Yuan, Mei, et al. “Rice Starch Soup Balls.” The Way of Eating: Yuan Meí's Manual of Gastronomy, Berkshire Publishing Group, Great Barrington, MA, 2019.
[13] “Dad’s Chewy Sesame Tangyuan.” YouTube, uploaded by Made With Lau, 11 Feb. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-dxbYoPuqg&t=295s
[14] “Dad’s Heartwarming Rice Ball Soup.” YouTube, uploaded by Made With Lau, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-EtCPvXdtA
[15] Kang, Hyeok Hweon. “Cooking Niter, Prototyping Nature: Saltpeter and Artisanal Experiment in Korea, 1592–1635.” Isis, vol. 113, no. 1, 2022, pp. 1–21., https://doi.org/10.1086/718283.
[16] Jung Lee, “Making Waste One’s Own: Transformations in Production by Resting Paper, or Hyuji, in Chosŏn Korea” 1–23.
[17] “Sekishu-Banshi: papermaking in the Iwami region of Shimane Prefecture.” YouTube, uploaded by UNESCO, 26 Sep. 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2WXBZQ3S18&t=2s
[18] Vyawahare, Malavika. “India's Perfume Tree Agarwood a Step Away from Extinction.” Hindustan Times, 8 July 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-s-perfume-tree-agarwood-a-step-away-from-extinction/story-qNnotiGYJ5QJRql7XlAf9N.html.
[19] Li, Shirley. “Do You Know the Differences between Yuanxiao and Tangyuan.” China Educational Tours, China Educational Tours, 27 Feb. 2020, https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/chinese-lantern-festival-differences-yuanxiao-tangyuan.htm.
*** Photo credits
Bill. “Savory Tangyuan.” The Woks of Life, 6 Feb. 2019, https://thewoksoflife.com/savory-tang-yuan/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.
Jorge, Chez. “Black Sesame Tang Yuan.” Chez Jorge, 23 Dec. 2020, https://chejorge.com/2020/12/23/vegan-black-sesame-tang-yuan/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.
“Taishan Traditional Salty Glutinous Rice Balls.” SimpleChineseFood, https://simplechinesefood.com/recipe/taishan-traditional-salty-glutinous-rice-balls. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.