Happy Lantern Festival!
Today marks the day of the annual Lantern Festival, ( yun xio ji) ; an important Chinese tradition celebrated on the 15th day of the lunar calendar.
And this year, this festival falls on February 8.
How do the Chinese commemorate this cultural tradition?
Activities usually include lighting up lanterns and fireworks (however, many major cities have already banned the use of fireworks), and folk dance performances.
Guessing lantern riddles
And eating yun xio/ tng yun! Yummy!
Today, well be focusing on only one of those traditions to teach you the difference between yun xio and tng yuan as eating them has become an essential part of this festival!
In China, people will tell you that "northerners eat yun xio, and southerners eat tng yun". And while many think that yun xio and yun xio are different names for the same food, but they are actually not quite the same.
How yun xio is made differs by region and fillings, which may include sugar, fruits, sesame, sweetened bean paste, and/or jujube paste among other ingredients. Some yun xio dont come with any fillings at all.
Differences in making yun xio
Yun xio
To make yun xio, one must stuff them in solid shapes and then cut them into small pieces. Dip them in water and then add raw glutinous rice flour on the sieve shaker. Then, sprinkle with a bit of water while shaking them until the stuffing is all rolled up into balls.
Because yun xio is sieved and rolled, it comes in bigger sizes than tng yuan normally would, which requires them to cook longer than tng yun.
tng yun
Tng yun is made of glutinous rice flour mixed with hot or cold water to form a dough. You then need to put all kinds of stuffing into a round shape.
The fillings are different
Because of its rolled up shape that requires its stuffing to be hard, yun xio uses black sesame as its sweet stuffing.
Tng yuan, on the other hand, is kneaded into glutinous rice balls, which makes the filling process a lot smoother and easier than yun xio.
Different modes of preservation
While tng yuan ca be found in frozen packets in supermarkets, it seems yun xio are a bit harder to spot. Why is that?
Thats because they need to be made and sold fresh. After being refrigerated for a few days, its surface will turn to an inedible red color. Theyre quite hard to find but definitely worth the extra efforts!
Lets look at some unusual" tng yun shared by netizens:
Durian filling
As a northerner, I prefer tng yuan with either black sesame or fruit fillings!
Yun xio are round in shape, which generally represents a sense of reunion, harmony and happiness.
Family members will usually sit together throughout the evening of the Lantern Festival and enjoy their delectable taste together under the full moon.
But considering the most recent events, its best to stay home and have your own little Lantern Festival dinner.
Be safe and healthy.
Do you like to eat those kinds of Chinese delicacies?
Have you tried them before?
Let us know in the comment section below!
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