[Chinese Recipes] Peanut Dumplings (Tang Yuan)

Tang Yuan is a traditional food for Chinese New Year and I ate quite a lot in the past month. The most popular filling is black sesame filling but we have someone love peanut filling in my family. So this peanut filling is my new attempt in the year of 2017 instead of making tested black sesame filling.

I made two batches this year for testing. The first batch is traditional ground peanut powder + sugar + lard. In order to pursue the running texture, I use a large amount of lard. It is running after cooked but come out too greasy and I wasted all of my ingredients.

So in the second attempt, I add peanut butter and greatly decrease the amount of butter in the filling. This can make 32 middle size peanut dumplings. Though they can be frozen for months, I still highly recommend you make smaller batches and cook those dumplings directly after assembling. Frozen tangyuan usually lost the perfect round shape. So my solution is to frozen the fillings any and assemble smaller batch each time.

To make peanut dumpling filling
1/2 cup peanut
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter or lard (for vegan readers, you can use coconut oil)

Heat a pan over slow fire and spread peanuts. Shake the pan occasionally and toast until the peanuts turns slightly golden (not darkly browned, otherwise the filling turns bitter). Remove the skins if there is only. Then ground the peanut with a food processor with sugar. Then melt the butter over a small pot.

Mix peanut butter, ground peanut and butter well. You can adjust the texture of the filling by adjusting the amount of butter or lard used in the filling. When mixed well, cover and transfer to fridge for around 1 hour until the filling become hardened. You can prepare this in the previous day.

To make the dumpling wrappers

In a large bowl with glutinous rice flour, slowly stir the warm water in. Cover and rest for 2-3 minutes, then work it into round dough. If the dough is too sticky, add extra 1 tablespoon of flour each time and make sure the dough is well shaped. Cover with a wet cloth so it will be drying out.

Divide the dough into halves and each halves into another 16 portions. Remember to cover all of your small dough pieces with wet cloth. Take one portion out, re-knead slightly and then shape the round ball into a bowl, fill around 1 tablespoon of filling in center and seal by pressing the opening together.

Peanut Dumplings (Tang Yuan)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins


Course: staple
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: peanuts, Tang yuan
Servings: 32 making 32 middle size tang yuan
Calories: 90 kcal
Author: Elaine



Ingredients
Peanut filling
1/2 cup peanut
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter or lard , for vegan readers, you can use coconut oil
Wrapper (for 32 middle size tang yuan, you can make a smaller batch)
2 cup sticky rice flour , around 250g
1 cup warm water

Instructions

1. Peanut butter filling
2. Heat a pan over slow fire and spread peanuts. Shake the pan occasionally and toast until the peanuts turns slightly golden (not darkly browned, otherwise the filling turns bitter). Remove the skins if there is only. Then ground the peanut with a food processor with sugar.
3. Then melt the butter over a small pot.
4. Mix peanut butter, ground peanut and butter well. You can adjust the texture of the filling by adjusting the amount of butter or lard used in the filling.
5. When mixed well, cover and transfer to fridge for around 1 hour until the filling become hardened. You can prepare this in the previous day.
6. Wrapper
7. In a large bowl with glutinous rice flour, slowly stir the warm water in. Cover and rest for 2-3 minutes, then work it into round dough. If the dough is too sticky, add extra 1 tablespoon of flour each time and make sure the dough is well shaped. Cover with a wet cloth so it will be drying out.
8. Divide the dough into halves and each halves into another 16 portions. Remember to cover all of your small dough pieces with wet cloth. Take one portion out, re-knead slightly and then shape the round ball into a bowl, fill around 1 tablespoon of filling in center and seal by pressing the opening together.
9. How to cook
10. Bring enough water to a boil in a large pot and then add the peanut dumplings in. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes over medium fire after the dumplings float on the surface.
11. Transfer the dumplings to serving bowls with enough water to cover. You can use the water for boiling the peanut dumplings, a green tea broth, a ginger syrup or osmanthus syrup broth.
12. Serve warm!

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Chinasichuanfood.com. Thanks so much!