Lunar New Year pork tang yuan dumplings and meatballs noodle soup
Cookbook author Ching-He Huang shares her favourite soup for Chinese Lunar New Year. This one-pot wonder brings together together several traditions in one wonderfully aromatic bowl that, for Ching-He, evokes special memories of the celebrations.
"I love tang yuan at Chinese New Year. My grandmother used to make a sweet variety with mung green beans and adzuki red beans in sweet syrup with floating pieces of plain sticky tang yuan," says the Taiwanese-born chef. "Tang yuan literally means 'soup rounds' in Mandarin Chinese. They are made from glutinous rice and water and when cooked in broth they double in size.
"They are the Chinese equivalent to gnocchi. Tang yuan can be cooked in savoury or sweet broth and they don’t taste of anything, except they are eaten more for their sticky texture. However, they can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings too.
"This is my one pot solution to Chinese New Year – it has the traditional tang yuan filled with a minced pork filling and meatballs in a savoury broth. At Chinese New Year, the tang yuan symbolise completeness and the uncut noodles are for longevity."
Ingredients
- 12 g celery stalks, each sliced into 3 pieces lengthways, then diced
- 220 g tinned bamboo shoots, sliced
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 1.7 l water
- 6 tbsp bouillon vegetable powder stock
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of sesame oil
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 100 g mung bean noodles, uncut
- 1 spring onion (scallion), finely sliced to garnish
- 1 handful chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 0.4 oz celery stalks, each sliced into 3 pieces lengthways, then diced
- 7.8 oz tinned bamboo shoots, sliced
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 3 pints water
- 6 tbsp bouillon vegetable powder stock
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of sesame oil
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 3.5 oz mung bean noodles, uncut
- 1 spring onion (scallion), finely sliced to garnish
- 1 handful chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 0.4 oz celery stalks, each sliced into 3 pieces lengthways, then diced
- 7.8 oz tinned bamboo shoots, sliced
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 7.2 cups water
- 6 tbsp bouillon vegetable powder stock
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of sesame oil
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 3.5 oz mung bean noodles, uncut
- 1 spring onion (scallion), finely sliced to garnish
- 1 handful chopped coriander (cilantro)
- 250 g lean pork mince (ground pork)
- 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
- 0.2 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro) stalks, finely chopped
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 dried Chinese mushroom, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and finely chopped
- 1 tsp shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of toasted sesame oil
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- 8.8 oz lean pork mince (ground pork)
- 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
- 0.2 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro) stalks, finely chopped
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 dried Chinese mushroom, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and finely chopped
- 1 tsp shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of toasted sesame oil
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- 8.8 oz lean pork mince (ground pork)
- 1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
- 0.2 medium red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- 1 handful coriander (cilantro) stalks, finely chopped
- 2 chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 dried Chinese mushroom, pre-soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and finely chopped
- 1 tsp shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 dash of toasted sesame oil
- 1 pinch ground white pepper
- 100 g glutinous rice flour
- 55 ml water
- 3.5 oz glutinous rice flour
- 1.9 fl oz water
- 3.5 oz glutinous rice flour
- 0.2 cup water
Details
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Recipe Type: Soup
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 60 mins
- Cooking Time: 30 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- In a large soup pan, add all the soup ingredients (except retain 20g bamboo shoots for the dumpling filling). Bring all the ingredients to a simmer.
- While the soup broth is being prepared, get a large bowl and mix together all the meatball ingredients.
- Knead the mixture with your hand so that all the ingredients are mixed well. Keep to one side.
- In another bowl, measure the glutinous rice flour and add the water. Use your fingers to mix the flour and water together and then knead into a dough.
- Roll the dough out onto a board and then roll roughly into a long sausage shape and divide the dough into equal pieces (12 pieces).
- Roll each piece into a ball and then using your second finger, flatten the dough.
- Take a teaspoon of the meat filling and place it in the middle. Gather the sides to meet into the middle and then roll the dumpling into a round ball.
- Make 12 of them. With the rest of the meatball filling, make them into small meatballs.
- Place all the filled dumplings and meatballs into the simmering soup broth and cook on simmered heat for 8 minutes, until the dumplings and meatballs float to the surface of the broth.Add the mung bean noodles and cook for another 1 minute until the noodles are translucent. Taste the soup broth and season further to taste if necessary.
- To serve, using chopsticks, lift some noodle into each bowl and then divide each bowl with 3 stuffed dumplings and 4 meatballs.
- Top with sprinkling of finely chopped spring onion (scallions) and coriander (cilantro) and serve immediately.
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Image credit: Romix Image/Shutterstock
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