22.12.2008

Last night was the Dong Zhi Festival. according to Wikipedia,

the making of tang yuen

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; Pinyin: dōng zhì; "The Extreme of Winter") is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest; i.e., on the first day of the Dongzhi solar term The origins of this festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù (復, "Returning"). Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, Cantonese jyutping: tong1 jyun2; Mandarin Pinyin: Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinuous rice, which symbolize reunion. Tangyuan are made of glutinuous rice flour and sometimes brightly coloured. Each family member receives at least one large Tang Yuan in addition to several small ones. The flour balls may be plain or stuffed. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savoury broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl.

Okay, to make it simpler, according to TEOpedia (i just created that, hehe).. Dong Zhi means special dinner, tang yuen and family gathering. Well, we dont go far from the original meaning of Dong Zhi Festival and i'm proud to be a Chinese! =)


i was planning to bake my last batch of Fruit-Ol Cake, mom was busy in the kitchen preparing ingredients for the dinner. then, it came to mind that the festival will not be meaningful without having tang yuen. yesterday was Sunday and kakak was not at home because she went out to bring Koko Ann, Aivy and Alvin to 1Borneo, so no one could help us to do tang yuen, unless we do it ourselves. Since Milia is at home at that time, i asked her if she wants to make tang yuen. we checked the cupboard, to see if all the ingreedients needed are there. luckily we still have 3 packets of flour. so, we started making tang yuen, right after i've done with my Fruit-Ol Cake, hehe.

red tang yuen with red bean paste filling

mine (the red balls) are filled with red bean paste, or famously known as tausa. while milia's (the white balls) are filled with tiramisu paste. but, both taste almost the same.

white tang yuen with tiramisu paste filling

Then, at night they (i used 'they' because i was not in..i went for Joyce wedding reception at Royal China Restaurant, huhu~) had all the good food (well, i had good food also la) and also tang yuen.

tang yuen in sweet ginger broth

Oh ya, another thing, according to the Chinese belief, if it rains during Dong Zhi Festival, then we will have a dry Chinese New Year, next year. But, if it's a dry Dong Zhi, where there's no rain, then we will have a wet Chinese New Year. i do not know how true is this. But yesterday, it was very dry..still i hope it wont rain during Chinese New year.
Let's do the experiment. and the time will tell. haha.

tang yuen ready to be served

Prediction: It will rain during Chinese New Year.. *waiting patiently for next year*