冬至 2012

Either I must be dreaming all day long or too occupied as I did not realise 冬至 (Winter Solstice) is just around the corner!! I remembered last year 元宵节 I've made some savoury dumplings (with meat fillings). I usually buy ready made ones for convenience so this is actually the 2nd time I've made 汤圆 glutinous rice balls (only the dough, no time to make fillings from scratch) :) To make the rice balls more interesting, I incorporate some natural colorings to it ! All the coloured dough are natural except the green one as I do not have pure green tea powder on hand. I only have a bottled of green tea powder which is not exactly natural as it contained flavourings and colourings >o<

I'm so happy that these coloured glutinous rice dumplings turned out really well. The dough are very easy to handle and the texture is very chewy after cooking! ^.^ Except for the red coloured dough which is slightly crumbly when rolling, maybe I've over rested the dough which makes it dry out though I've already cling wrap everything. But after cooking it turns out as good, therefore I will not make any amendments to the proportion for this red coloured dough ;) 

hehehehe you must be wondering what natural colourings I've added into these doughs after reading my longwinded story >.< Red dough : red rice yeast grinded into powder, Blue dough : blue pea flower liquid, Green dough : green tea powder, Yellow dough : pumpkin puree!!!

They colour looks very pretty right?!

These are the few large ones with red bean fillings rolled by me :)

Cute little rainbow dumplings without fillings! The white ones are all rolled by dear son and he also helps with the other coloured dough :)

五彩汤圆

The kids enjoying the rolling ;) Son helps out a lot whereas little princess plays it like a play dough hahaha...

Ingredient (basic plain dough)

• 100gm glutinous rice flour
• 80gm warm water
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• adequate amount of red bean paste or choice of your favourites

Method

1. Put flour into a small mixing bowl. Add in warm water and mix till a dough formed.
2. Add in 1/2 tbsp oil one at time and knead lightly till all is blended.
3. Cling wrap and rest dough for an hour.
4. Wrap dough with some fillings (I used 8gm filling for each ball) and seal tightly. Ready to use....

* Green colour rice ball : add 1 tsp green powder to the warm water and mix well

* Red colour rice ball : add 1 tsp grinded red yeast rice to the warm water and mix well.

* Blue colour rice ball : steep some dried blue pea flower into the warm water, strain liquid.

Pumpkin Glutinous Rice Ball 南瓜汤圆

Ingredient

• 100gm pumpkin puree
• 60gm glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Combine pumpkin puree with rice flour and mix well into a dough.
2. Add in vegetable oil and knead till pliable.
3. Cling wrap and rest for 1 hour. Wrap dough with fillings or shape into small balls without fillings.

The colour transformed after cooking! The colour turned out more intense, especially the red and blue ones,  compared to the raw coloured dough. I did not jot down the exact ingredients of this sweet dessert :) I simply boil a pot of water with some pandan leaves and sliced ginger for a couple minutes, follow then added some brown sugar to taste. Add in appropriate amount of rice dumplings and cook till they float to the top. Ready to serve!!

Rainbow Glutinous Rice Dumplings in Sweet Ginger Syrup

My favourite coloured Tang Yuan!

Chicken & Chinese Marrow Soup with Rainbow Dumplings

Ingredient

• 300gm skinless chicken breast meat, cubed
• 500gm chinese marrow
• 100gm shimeiji mushroom
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp wine
• dash of pepper
• 1/2 tbsp corn flour
• 2 slices ginger
• 1 stalk spring onion
• 1.5L chicken stock
• appropriate amount of mini glutinous rice balls 

Method

1. Marinate chicken breast meat with salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, wine, pepper & cornflour. Set aside.
2. Peel chinese marrow and cut into cubes.
3. Add ginger into chicken stock and bring to boil.
4. Add in chinese marrow and cook for 5 mins until tender.
5. Add in chicken meat & mushroom and cook for 1 min.
6. Add in glutinous rice balls and simmer to boil till they float to the top. 
7. Stir in spring onion and adjust taste by adding some salt. Serve immediately.