Otter Tang Yuan
circles are boring, why not make them otter shaped 🦦🤪
whenever it comes to the day of winter solstice, my mother will always make a bowl of tang yuan for us to eat, no matter how full we are. non negotiable. thus, i had never fully appreciated tang yuans until i read up on the meaning behind this dish and why people eat it. in Chinese culture, tang yuan symbolises togetherness, or reunion. it is also aptly served in a bowl of HOT soup, so when you have a bowl of tang yuan, it reminds you on the warmth that a family can give!
so to further extend the meaning of togetherness, i challenged myself to make tang yuan from scratch and the Singaporean in me decided to make them otter shaped 🦦 honestly, it was no easy feat. i would highly recommend you to do it as an activity with friends & family, and share the rewards at the end 🥰 have fun~
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Otter Tang Yuan
makes approx 8 otters
for dough (one color)
60g glutinous rice flour
40ml hot water
cocoa powder (1-2 tsp depending how dark)
for peanut filling
15g peanut, toasted
5g sesame seed, toasted
10g sugar
1/2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp peanut oil
for ginger soup
4 cups of water
3 slices ginger
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 pandan leaf
melted chocolate for face decoration
directions
firstly, make the peanut filling. in a blender, blitz peanuts, sesame seed and sugar together, then add in the nut butter and oil and blitz to a cohesive paste. feel free to adjust the measurements to your own liking! (eg: more sugar, less sesame seeds etc)
remove the paste from the blender, and spread out the paste in a container/ tray and freeze it till it is firm enough to roll into miniature balls. then chill the balls in the fridge again
while paste is chilling, make your dough by mixing together the cocoa powder and glutinous rice flour together, and slowly add in hot water into the bowl. stir as you mix until it forms a rough dough. set aside to allow the water to hydrate the flour. repeat with different colors (NOTE: cocoa powder can be very drying so be careful!)
once dough is slightly softer, roll it into a ball, set it aside and cover with a damp cloth. (important as dough drys out easily)
prepare a small bowl of water and a damp cloth before assembling. line a baking tray with baking sheet, and start rolling out the tang yuan. cut the dough into half, and roll it out into a sausage shape. cut them into various sizes (for head and body). roll them into balls and place them under the damp cloth immediately
take one ball, flatten it with your thumbs, just enough space to place a peanut filling within (this is the belly of the otters). remember to always place dough under a damp cloth. if cracks are seen, then dab some water onto the dough and smooth it back together
repeat steps, and press on the hands, ears and head together. using a toothpick, draw the eyes, mouth and whiskers with melted chocolate. do note that food ink will work better as chocolate will smudge when touched, even after cooking
prepare a pot with boiling water and carefully drop in the finish otters. leave it boiling at medium heat (gentle boil). you’ll know they are done when the otters float. scoop them out and place them immediately in iced water, this will help with the texture
while otters are boiling, prepare another pot on the side, with water, brown sugar, ginger and pandan leaf and allow it to boil.
to serve, prepare a bowl of ginger soup, and the cooked tang yuan! enjoy~