How to make Chinese glutinous rice balls, aka tong yuen – a warming dish for when the weather cools
- Susan Jung’s recipe for tong yuen in ginger broth, an old Hong Kong street food favourite, is easy to make at home
I used to love buying tong yuen (round balls of glutinous rice flour, also spelt tang yuan) in ginger broth from the vendors that popped up in Hong Kong streets as soon as the weather started to cool (which in our subtropical climate, meant dropping from 30 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees). Unfortunately, the government has pushed most of the food vendors off the street, so if you want to eat tong yuen, you will need to visit a restaurant or a Chinese dessert shop. Or make them at home.
Sesame brittle tong yuen in ginger broth
Tong yuen have a chewy texture similar to mochi. You can buy them in the frozen section of Asian supermarkets, but they are easy to make. They are eaten at Chinese reunion dinners, such as Mid-Autumn Festival, the winter solstice and Lunar New Year because the round shape represents harmony.
You can use white (they are actually tan) or black sesame seeds for the brittle, or a mixture of both. It’s impossible to make a small batch of brittle, so you will have more than you need for the tong yuen filling. Break the brittle into pieces and store in an airtight container with packets of food-safe desiccant.
For the sesame brittle:
100 grams granulated sugar
30 grams sesame seeds
