TANG YUAN DAY RECIPES

Steps:

• Make the filling: In a small food processor, add sugar, sesame or peanuts, and salt and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add in oil and water and continue blending until fully combined and smooth. Transfer to a bowl and freeze for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Scoop and portion chilled filling into 24 balls, about ½ tablespoon each. Transfer to a plate and freeze until completely hardened, about 2 hours. Meanwhile, make dough: In a large bowl, whisk together rice flour and salt. Drizzle in condensed milk and boiling water, then stir to evenly distribute. Drizzle in room-temperature water and stir until fully combined. Knead until dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. On a clean surface lightly dusted with more rice flour, roll dough out into a long rope. Cut rope into 24 equal pieces, then flatten each piece into a 2”-wide round. Place a ball of filling in the middle of each round, then gently guide and coax the wrapper to fully seal the filling inside the dough. In a medium pot of boiling water over medium-low heat, add tang yuan in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pot. Boil until the tang yuan floats, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Continue cooking for 1 minute more, then transfer to a bowl to serve. Serve tang yuan hot, with a few ladles of cooking broth in each bowl.

Steps:

• Make the soup: Combine the ginger and sugar in a large saucepan with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, then turn the heat to the lowest setting. Let steep until ready to cook.
• Make the filling: Process the sesame seeds in a food processor until very finely ground. Add the sugar and pulse until the mixture is as fine as sand, then pulse in the peanut butter until the mixture forms a smooth mass. Taste and add more sugar if you’d like, then pulse to incorporate.
• Using a measuring teaspoon, scoop and pack a flat spoonful of the sesame seed mixture, then push it out of the spoon onto a rimmed baking sheet using your fingertip. Repeat with the remaining mixture and note how many pieces you get. (It should be around 24.) Press and gently squeeze each spoonful into a ball. Transfer to the freezer to firm up.
• Make the dough: Place the flour in a medium bowl and set the bowl on a damp kitchen towel so it won’t slip. Bring 2/3 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a heatproof liquid measuring cup in the microwave. Add the oil to the water, then pour the mixture into the flour in a slow, steady stream while stirring with chopsticks or a fork. Continue stirring until the liquid is incorporated. The mixture should look like floury pebbles. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let stand 5 minutes to cool.
• Squeeze and gather the pebbles into a ball in the bowl. Roll onto a clean work surface and knead, flouring the dough and surface if the dough sticks, until very smooth and room temperature, 3 to 5 minutes. The dough should feel supple. Roll into a snake 1 inch in diameter and cut into the number of dough filling balls you have, dividing evenly.
• Take the filling balls out of the freezer. Roll a piece of dough into a ball, then press the edges with your fingertips to form a 2 1/2-inch round with a dime-size belly of thicker dough in the middle. Center a filling ball in the dough, then gather the sides around it to enclose. Pinch the seams shut and gently roll into a smooth ball. Repeat with the remaining filling and dough. (The dumplings can be frozen on a baking sheet until firm, then stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Cook directly from the freezer.)
• Bring the ginger soup to a simmer over medium heat. Add the dumplings one at a time, then simmer gently until the balls float, the dough is a little translucent and the filling is steaming hot, about 10 minutes. Divide the dumplings and soup among bowls and serve hot. (The ginger isn’t meant to be eaten.)