It is winter solstice (冬至) today in lunar
calendar, the tradition in my home is to have Tang Yuan, a type of
glutinous rice ball cooked and served in sweet soup.
I made some Tang Yuan with my son A in the
morning and made this Sweet Osmanthus Jiuniang Tang Yuan for
breakfast, a hearty breakfast in below zero degree winter
morning!
Ingredients:
1 cup Glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tsp of Ang Chowor a few drops of red food
coloring
1 medium size egg
1/2 tsp of dried Osmanthus flower
(桂花)
3 tbsp of Jiuniang (Chinese Fermented Sweet
Rice)
Rock sugar/sugar to taste
1. Knead the flour with warm water to form a
soft dough, cover with clean cloth.
2. Divide the dough in half, add half tsp of
Ang
Chowto one of the portion and knead into pink/red color
dough. divide the dough into small portions and roll into small
balls to the size of your liking.
3. Bring a half pot of water to boil, add some
brown sugar/sugar/rock sugar. Add the dried Osmanthus in to cook
for 2-3 minutes.
4. In another pot, bring a half pot of water
to boil, drop the rice balls into the water and cook for 3-5
minutes or until the rice balls started floating on water.
5. Lightly beat the egg, just a spatula to
stir the Osmanthus syrup in circular motions to form swirls, with
the help of a fork, drips egg into the syrup to make egg
drops.
6. Take the cooked rice balls out and place
into the syrup, add 3 tbsp of Jiuniang into the soup, serve
warm.