Tang Yuan or Kuih Ee (Rice Balls in Syrup)
45 minutes
Kuih EE is a sweet made on a festival called ‘Tang Chek’. This day actually falls on Winter Solstice. Tang Chek is quite an important festival in the Chinese Calendar. Most traditional Chinese businesses will be closed for the day. Tang Chek also signifies the coming of Chinese New Year. As kids were told that we would be a year older after eating the ee (balls). So you can imagine that we would all have our share. The roundness of the balls signifies the roundness of the coming year, ie, a smooth year. For more info on the tradition, please visit nyonyarecipe.com
1 person made this
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- Dough
- 150g glutinous rice flour
- 150g water
- food colours, red and green
- Syrup
- 200g sugar
- 500ml water
- 1 pandan leaf, torn length-wise and knotted
Directions
Preparation:25min ›
Cook:20min ›
Ready in:45min
- Dough: Mix the rice flour with about 150ml of water to get a smooth, pliable dough. Divide into 3 portions.
- Leave one portion uncoloured, white. Add a few drops of the pink (or red) food colour to one portion and mix well. Repeat with the other portion with green colour. You can add as much as you like to get the intensity that you want. Set aside,
- Take one portion of the dough. Roll it and pinch small pieces to make the balls. Roll a piece between your palms to get a smooth round ball. Place on a plate. Repeat until you finish. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Set aside
- Syrup: Put the sugar, water and pandan leaf in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pandan leaf. Set aside.
- To Cook: Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Tip in the white balls and let it boil. Once the balls float up, they are cooked, remove them with a strainer and add to the syrup.
- Repeat the process for the rest of the balls. Dish out and serve.
Tip
Pandan leaf is the leaf of the screw pine plant commonly used as a flavouring in cooking in Asia.
