Hello and welcome to my food diaries! My name is Charlotte Meng and I absolutely love to make and eat all kinds of food. In this space, I hope to share easy, nutritious, and delicious dishes that vary between cuisines, flavor profiles, and difficulty levels. Here you’ll have access to recipes ranging from healthy student-friendly snacks that can be thrown together in five minutes to more elaborate creations, such as desserts. I plan to add an entry once every two weeks with what’s in season. Enjoy!
Chinese Tang Yuan Recipe for Lunar New Year
February 20, 2026
In our family, my mom always makes tang yuan (汤圆) for dessert on Lunar New Year. Traditionally, tang yuan are little rice dough balls (think mochi) filled with black sesame paste and eaten with sweet ginger soup. Tang yuan symbolizes togetherness and good luck when eaten with family. Below I have included the recipes for both the ginger soup and the rice balls. You can choose whether to fill them or not, but I highly recommend doing so if you have time. However, it is very filling, which is why this recipe only yields four tang yuan per serving.
Cuisine: Chinese
Recipe type: Dessert, snack
Flavor profile: nutty, floral, warming, earthy, slightly sweet
Serves: 4
Total time: 35 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients for Tang Yuan:
- 2 cups glutinous rice flour (you can find this at any Asian supermarket)
- ⅓ cup ground black sesame seeds
- 1½ tbsp melted coconut oil
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- ¾ cup water, or enough to form a cohesive dough
To Make the Sesame Filling:
Combine the ground sesame seeds, brown sugar, and coconut oil in a bowl, using a spoon to stir until they form a dark paste. Before you fill the tang yuan, set at room temperature until coconut oil has solidified.
To Make the Tang Yuan:
- Pouring a little water at a time, mix the rice flour with your hand until the consistency is dough-like. Knead on a flour-covered surface until it feels moist and stretchy, like soft taffy. If the dough is too wet, add a little more flour to achieve a perfect consistency or vice versa.
- Divide the dough into 16 sections, then roll each piece into a ball. Use the palm of your hand to flatten the ball until it is about 2 inches in diameter, then make a small indentation in the center with your thumb. Continue deepening it until it looks like a small teacup. Fill with a small spoonful of filling, then pinch the outer edges into the center with your fingers to close. Be careful not to add too much filling, or it will burst.
- Add eight dumplings into a pot of boiling water at a time, stirring occasionally. When they rise to the top, cook them for another minute before putting them in a bowl.
Ingredients for Ginger Soup:
- 10 – 15 slices of fresh ginger (the more the spicier!)
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 cups water
To Make the Ginger Soup:
Add the water to a pot and heat on low. Add the ginger slices and dissolve the sugar to make the soup. Heat for around five minutes, or until the soup simmers. Turn off the heat and distribute evenly in the bowls. Serve hot.
Enjoy and Happy Lunar New Year!
