Tangyuan – Glutinous Rice Balls (3 Ingredients!)
Chewy, soft glutinous rice balls only need THREE simple ingredients, one of the easiest and tastiest Taiwanese desserts that you will love!
If you never tried Tangyuan, Taiwanese chewy glutinous rice balls, it is a soft mochi dessert served on top of shaved ice or in sweet syrup soup.
You can bulk make Tangyuan ahead of time and freeze them up to three months.
Tangyuan is gluten-free and an easy dessert that is perfect for summer or winter.
Tangyuan is a popular dessert that you can find at Taiwanese Night markets.
In the summer, tangyuan is served on top of shaved ice or with cold tofu dessert.
In the winter, tangyuan is served with red bean soup or ginger syrup.
If you never tried Tangyuan, it has a chewy mochi-like consistency, but it becomes super soft when served hot.
All you need to make Tangyuan is glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water.
My grandma’s secret tip to give you that EXTRA chewiness is to boil a piece of dough, add it back to the rest of the dough, and knead until it becomes super soft.
This extra step will give you might market quality tangyuan that will make a world of difference.
Make Tangyuan in bulk so you can have it ready in less than 5 minutes.
Place the Tangyuan on top of a parchment-lined tray and freeze for 1 hour.
Once the rice ball is no longer soft, you can place it into a plastic bag and freeze it for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to eat, boil for 4-5 minutes or until it floats.
Do you want more Taiwanese Street Food recipes? Here are some of my favorite!!
- Taiwanese Honey Castella Sponge Cake (Fail-proof)
- Taro and Sweet Potato Balls (4 Ingredients Only!)
- Popcorn Chicken (EXTRA CRISPY & JUCIY!)
- Deep Fried Milk (3 Ingredients ONLY!)
Ingredients
- 250g of Glutinous Rice Flour
- 100g of Sugar
- 140 ml of Water
- In a bowl, add glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water. Knead until it forms into a ball (it doesn’t need to be smooth).
- Take two pieces of the dough around 3 tbsp of each. In a pot, add in water, bring it to a boil, add in the dough and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the dough back into the rest of the glutinous rice flour mixture, and knead until it becomes a smooth dough. Be patient; this process takes around 5 minutes; add more flour if too sticky.
- Optional: add in food coloring to half of the dough.
- Roll it out, and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Roll the pieces into a ball.
- In a pot, add in water, bring it to a simmer on medium heat. Add in the rice balls and cook for 3-4 minutes or until it floats.
- Enjoy on top of shaved ice or with red bean soup.
Tangyuan
By Tiffy Cooks
Ingredients
- 250 g Glutinous Rice Flour
- 100 g Sugar
- 140 ml Water
Instructions
- In a bowl, add glutinous rice flour, sugar, and water. Knead until it forms into a ball (it doesn’t need to be smooth).
- Take two pieces of the dough around 3 tbsp of each. In a pot, add in water, bring it to a boil, add in the dough and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the dough back into the rest of the glutinous rice flour mixture, and knead until it becomes a smooth dough. Be patient; this process takes around 5 minutes; add more flour if too sticky.
- Optional: add in food coloring to half of the dough.
- Roll it out, and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Roll the pieces into a ball.
- In a pot, add in water, bring it to a simmer on medium heat. Add in the rice balls and cook for 3-4 minutes or until it floats.
- Enjoy on top of shaved ice or with red bean soup.
Hii, do we freeze it before boiling it all?, like we prepare it and then boil when used?
Hi there! You don’t have to freeze it before boiling, it should hold its shape. You can freeze the extra tangyuan before boiling to keep them fresh if you don’t cook them all right away.
Tiffy
Isn’t this just boba? I’ve used a lot of recipes for boba and this is the same so I was wondering if it’s any different!
Hi Lucia! “Boba” or “tapioca” is the brownish-black spheres made with tapioca flour that’s added to milk tea to make boba tea, or bubble tea. Tangyuan is a separate dessert made with sticky rice. In boba shop today, they do sometimes offer tangyuan/sticky rice balls as a topping option, but it’s traditionally eaten in ginger syrup during the holidays or on top of shaved ice.
Thanks for asking!
Tiffy
So yummy!! Also it’s pretty easy to make and tastes good.
Can’t wait to try. Can you add fillings???
Yes! you can wrap this recipe with fillings, but I personally haven’t tried yet! Let me know how it goes!
Tiffy