Tangyuan (food)

Tangyuan (food)

Tāngyuán (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán), a homophone of and frequent metaphor for family-union (simplified Chinese: 团圆; traditional Chinese: 團圓; pinyin: tuányuán) is a Chinese food made from glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls and is then cooked and served in boiling water. Tangyuan can be either small or large, and filled or unfilled. They are traditionally eaten during Yuanxiao, or the Lantern Festival. They are also traditionally serve during the Chinese Winter Solstice Festival(Chinese and Japanese: 冬至; Korean: 동지; Vietnamese: Đông chí) (Pinyin: Dōng zhì), (Rōmaji: Tōji), (Romaja:Dongji), or, any occasions of family/relatives re-union such as wedding ceremony with both the paternal and maternal family.