Glutinous Rice Ball (Tangyuan) with Sesame Peanuts

Words that come from the heart stay warm three winters long.
~ Chinese Proverb

Today’s blog is about Winnie’s recipe which she shared on our Cooking Club. There are many steps to making this but are pretty simple. We took 1 hour to make this including cooking time.

Tangyuan can be unfilled or filled, fillings can include red bean paste, chopped peanuts and sugar, sesame paste (ground black sesame seeds mixed with lard), rock sugar (which would create a hot, melting caramel-like filling), etc. We used peanut butter and instant sesame powder which gives a strong peanut butter taste.

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To the Chinese, Glutinous rice ball (tangyuan) is eaten all year round, although it is commonly associated with the Chinese New Year, and the Lantern Festival. Glutinous rice ball is made by mixing glutinous rice flour with a small amount of water and form into balls and is then cooked in boiling water and served in syrup water.

Ingredients

These ingredients is sufficient to make about 20 rice balls — good enough serving for 4-5 people.

For the glutinous rice balls:

  • Peanut Butter: 3 tablespoon
  • Instant Sesame Powder: 2 tablespoon (buy them from Asian stores)
  • Icing Sugar: 2 tablespoon
  • Roasted Sesame Seeds: 3 tablespoon
  • Glutinous Rice Flour: 400g

For the syrup:

  • Ginger: 1 piece
  • Brown Sugar: 150g
  • Mandarin Orange Peel: 1 piece

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Toasted Sesame Seed Bagel with Kaya Spread

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Where there is smoke, there is toast
~ Unknown

Before we had our bread machine, we usually buy bread and bagels from the Buns Master Bakery. Although there are several Buns Master outlets around the city, we normally go to the one on SW Marine Drive just off the Knight Street Bridge.

We love their sesame seed bagel. We have tried the sesame seed bagel from the other Buns Master outlet but they do not taste the same. The owner of this one particular outlet is a very nice Chinese looking man who always were very polite and humble. The shop opens seven days a week!! There was this one time when he told us that he is closing the shop for a week because his daughter was getting married … other than that he had been working seven days a week for a long time. Gosh, what a life!

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We almost always buy the Sesame Seed Bagel, not Poppy Seed, Plain or others. And we like to toast it — toasting it brings out the full fragrance and crunchiness of the sesame seeds. Being raised as Malaysians we love to use kaya jam as a spread.

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The bagel (or sometimes beigel) is a bread product traditionally made of yeasted wheat dough in the form of a roughly hand-sized ring which is boiled in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior.

The dough may also be flavored to produce many varieties: salt, onion, garlic, egg, pumpernickel, rye, sourdough, whole wheat, multigrain, cinnamon-raisin, cheese, caraway, blueberry, and muesli among others. Bagels may be topped with seeds such as poppy or sesame, which are baked onto the outer crust. (more…)

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Egg Custard Tarts

Better an egg this year than a chicken next year.
~ Ethiopian Proverb

I made a small batch of Egg Custard Tarts. The boys love the tarts and can eat three at a go. This is a sure-fire way to get them snacking frequently. It takes about 35 minutes to make a small batch of eight tarts.

If you like this recipe, you should also check out the recipe on Kuejadas (Portuguese Tart).

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Ingredients:

Here are the ingredients to make 8 tarts:

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon superfine (castor) sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 8 tart shell

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Thai Son Restaurant on No 3 Road

This outlet is closed. Thai Son had re-opened along in Garden City. See entry here.

Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them
~ Unknown

It was cold and rainy today. Just the type of weather for a hot bowl of noodle soup. We went to the Thai Son Restaurant on No 3 Road. Is just across the road from the Richmond Centre.

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The Thai Son Restaurant is owned by a Vietnamese couple. Although the name Thai Son appears to be a Thai restaurant, it is not … it is a purely Vietnamese restaurant. Thai Son has a restaurant too under the same name in East Broadway in Vancouver.

Apparently, this restaurant was very popular back in the 1990’s among the Hong Konger crowd. There are a number of photos hanging on the wall of some old Hong Kong movie stars in the restaurant who emigrated to Vancouver prior to the 1997 handover to China.

As in all Vietnamese restaurants, they always serve first the complementary bean sprout. Thai Son serves the bean sprouts blanched and warm.

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Suanne ordered the Rice Noodle in Special Vietnamese Stew. The stew was not thick and the beef chunks were tender. Nanzaro shared this with his mum.

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Arkensen ordered a large Beef Ball noodles. He finished the entire large bowl. We are glad to see him eat the whole bowl because he normally does not eat much and is underweight for his height. Arkensen likes to add lots of teriyaki sauce to his noodle. (more…)

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