Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Tangyuan
Chewy glutinous rice balls with a sweet black sesame center in warm ginger syrup, a Chinese symbol of family reunion.
Chinese · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 15 min
~678 cal · 10g protein · 107g carbs · 25g fat · 6g fiber · 43g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Tangyuan are chewy glutinous rice balls served in a warm, sweet broth, deeply tied to Chinese celebrations, above all the Lantern Festival and the winter solstice. Their round shape and the way they cluster in the bowl symbolise family togetherness and reunion, tuanyuan.
The balls are made from glutinous rice flour worked into a smooth, pliable dough and wrapped around a filling, most classically a sweet, slightly savoury black sesame paste that turns molten when cooked. They are simmered until they float and swell, then served in a light syrup often scented with ginger or rice, comforting and full of meaning.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups glutinous rice flour
1/2 cup black sesame seeds, ground
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp oil or plant butter (for filling)
4 slices fresh ginger, sliced
1/3 cup rock sugar (for the syrup)
Instructions
1
Make a filling by mixing the ground black sesame with sugar and oil, then chill until firm.
2
Mix the glutinous rice flour with warm water into a smooth, soft dough.
✎ Chef’s note
Add the water gradually until the dough is soft and pliable like an earlobe. Too dry and the balls crack while cooking.
3
Wrap small pieces of dough around the sesame filling and roll into smooth balls.
4
Simmer the ginger and rock sugar into a light syrup, cook the balls until they float, and serve warm in the syrup.
Chinese reunion-festival tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Shanghai. Hairy crab is a season more than a dish. The Chinese mitten crab, most associated with Yangcheng Lake, is steamed whole through the autumn and picked over slowly with vinegar and ginger. Xiaolongbao come from Nanxiang in Jiading on the city's edge, where they are still called xiaolong mantou.
🗺️
China. China holds eight great regional cuisines within one border, the fire of Sichuan, the delicacy of Cantonese dim sum, the wheat noodles of the north, and more. Techniques like stir-frying, steaming, and braising, plus soy, ginger, and rice wine, unify an endlessly diverse table.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
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Good to know
You’ll need: Rolling pin.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a China meal
Hongshao Rou (Red-Braised Pork)Dinner
SuanmeitangDrink
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Frequently asked questions
What is Tangyuan?
Chewy glutinous rice balls with a sweet black sesame center in warm ginger syrup, a Chinese symbol of family reunion.
Where does Tangyuan come from?
Tangyuan is a Chinese dish from Shanghai, China.
Can Tangyuan be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Tangyuan recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Tangyuan safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Tangyuan take to make?
About 45 minutes total (30 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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