WINTER SOLSTICE

Alhamdulillah, finally able to eat my own kuih ee or tang yuan after so many years.
Some claim that tomorrow 22nd December is Winter Solstice, others say it's today 21st.
Well, I suppose it depends on where you stay.
In my Peranakan family, we call the festival Tang Chek, which means the arrival of winter.

This is one traditional dish which every Chinese can identify with. Traditional Chinese families would cook this dessert and serve it at the altar in the morning of Winter Solstice. This round shaped rice balls symbolise togetherness and completeness of the family. Eat it and you'd also be symbolically a year older.
I don't have to serve the dish at altar, so it doesn't really matter whether I cook it on 21st or 22nd December. However, as it is almost impossible to get halal tang yuan here, I had no choice but to make it from scatch. That means getting my hands messy with glutinious rice flour mixed with warm water, knead the dough and shape the dough into small round balls.
I was in a hurry so just managed to do white and red tang yuan, all done and cooked within an hour after kneading. Besides don't want to take too much colouring.
Hubby was surprised to be presented with a bowl of tang yuan. It was his first introduction to this dessert, and his comment? "Take photos, put in FB!" Hahahahaaa...Ikram is not eating it this year as he's too young.

Hmmm, I'm quite into cooking nowadays, dont ask me why. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones.. it's even getting into my dreams as well - Laksa Penang, Pulut Inti, Bee Koh Moy, yum yum yum..

Note: I've planned to cook only some, but kneading the flour somehow forced me to make extra. Now am having a big pot of tang yuan but nobody to help me finish them.. anyone interested in eating tang yuan?

here's the recipe [sorry la, too lazy to translate~ taken from my post last year-Kuih Ee]
Cara membuat:
1. Gaulkan tepung pulut dengan air panas sehingga membentuk doh lembut, baru campurkan sedikit air biasa untuk mudah menguli.
Kemudian uli sehingga doh lembut tetapi tak melekat pada tangan. Bahagikan doh kepada beberapa bahagian, bergantung kepada warna yang dihendaki. Biarkan doh asal untuk bebola warna putih.Uli sehingga warna doh itu menjadi sebati. Awas, hanya beberapa titik warna sudah memadai untuk doh.
2. Gulung doh menjadi panjang dan cubit sedikit lalu uli menjadi bebola sebesar syiling 10 sen.Kalau berinti,bolehlah lebih besar lagi. Kalau nak masukkan inti, perlulah leperkan dahulu,masukkan sedikit pes baru diuli menjadi bebola.Letakkan bebola diatas dulang/pinggan leper, jarakkan supaya bebola tidak bersentuhan.
3. Untuk sirapnya, rebus gula batu/merah/melaka dengan air dan masukkan sepotong halia yang telah ditumbuk dan daun pandan.Kemanisan mengikut citarasa.
4. Masukkan bebola tepung ke air mendidih di dalam periuk lain dan rebus sehingga bebola timbul.Angkat dan rendam dalam air sejuk seketika supaya bebola lebih kenyal dan tidak mudah melekat apabila dimasukkan ke dalam peti sejuk.
5. Hidang bebola yang telah masak dan disejukkan dengan sirap halia.
Selamat mencuba.