Ingredients:
1 cup glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup room temperature water
Optional food coloring
Instructions:
Mix the glutinous rice flour and water together and knead until it becomes a soft ball of dough; a texture similar to playdough. It should be soft—not too sticky but not so dry that it crumbles. Add a little water if it’s too dry, or a bit more rice flour if it’s too wet/sticky. It can be helpful to add the water gradually until you reach the right consistency.
Divide the dough into as many colors as you’d like and add your coloring to the dough! Knead to make sure the color is well incorporated. Because there is no gluten, it’s impossible to over-knead this dough!
Shape them into 1/2 inch or smaller rounds, or get creative and make some shapes! Cover the dough and finished tang yuan with a towel or keep them in a sealed container to keep them from drying out as you work.
Cooking the Tang Yuan:
Bring a pot of water to boil, add tang yuan balls to the pot, and boil until they float to the top—that means they’re ready!
Variation: Tang Yuan with Brown Sugar Ginger Broth
Make a brown sugar ginger broth (6 cups water, 6 tablespoons brown sugar, 1″ thinly sliced ginger). Place ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Drop the tang yuan in and cook until they float.
Other variations can be filled with dried fruit, nuts, or black sesame paste.