Matcha Glutinous Rice Balls / Tang Yuan

Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, the onset of winter the following day. The day will be longer and night shorter. And Chinese around the world celebrate with making and eating Glutinous Rice Balls / Tang Yuan. A very important and big day for the Chinese. These Glutinous Rice Balls are made of Glutinous Rice flour and warm water for a gooey and chewy texture ( like mochi ) with a peanut butter filling and served with sweet soup. Matcha Glutinous Rice Balls ,so yummy good. First time making this Matcha balls. It is fragrant and texture is smooth with the peanut butter bursting in the mouth with every bite. For the not overly sweet soup , I used scewpine leaf and honeycomb sugar . So good. I served the Glutinous Rice Balls with sweet soup from a sake jar just for fun. 

the peanut butter fillings bursting in the mouth with every bite...so good!

before wrapping the filling, freeze the peanut butter filling for a few mins for easy wrapping 

the right texture for the matcha dough shld look like this as shown here. Add in water slowly to get the right texture...not too wet nor too dry. Cover the dough with a damp cloth when not using

 I used NikoNeko Matcha powder

Recipe: 10 pieces

1/2 cup glutinous rice flour

1/2 tbsp matcha powder

1/3 cup or more warm water

Filling

2 tbsp of Skippy Chunky Peanut Butter - freeze for 5 mins -shape them into tiny bit balls  

Method:

Mix glutinous rice flour and matcha powder evenly in a small mixing bowl. Slowly add in warm water and using a spatula, gently stir until you get a soft dough yet not too wet. The amt of water is just a rough guide. Cover with damp cloth if not using to prevent dough from drying . Divide dough into ten equal portions. Shape into  round balls. Gently press down and flatten dough and place the peanut butter filling  in the center and shape into a round ball again. Repeat till all balls are done and ready for cooking. Place the balls in the fridge while waiting for the sweet soup to be ready.

To prepare the sweet soup

Boil screwpine and honeycomb sugar with 2 cups of water. Once the honey comb has dissolved. Off heat. 

To cook the Glutinous Rice Balls

Boil a pot of water. Once water boil,  gently add in the balls into the boiling water. Once the balls starts floating, it means they are cooked. Use a slated spoon to scoop up the balls. Add the cooked balls into the sweet soup. They are ready for serving.

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE