Name: Tang Yuan with Black Sesame
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 250 ml water; 220 g palm sugar, rock sugar or caster sugar ((use less sugar to your liking)); 5 cm ginger (thickly sliced, optional); 50 g black sesame seeds; 55 g caster sugar ((superfine sugar)); 3 g fine salt; 30 g unsalted butter (softened); 30 g crunchy peanut butter (or smooth peanut butter); 300 g glutinous rice flour (preferably from the Asian grocer); 285 ml hot water (not boiling)

Tang Yuan

The Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year with many different types of auspicious food, and a popular dessert is called Tang Yuan. They are glutinous rice balls, very much like Japanese mochi, which can be prepared as a sweet or savoury dish.

I grew up eating a similar Vietnamese dessert where the glutinous rice balls are filled with mung beans and served in a sweet ginger syrup. I find Tang Yuan, the Chinese version, to be a lighter and sweeter affair, which actually makes them somewhat addictive and very enjoyable to eat!

In fact, Tang Yuan is much easier to make than its Vietnamese counterpart, that I often keep a stash in the freezer for last minute desserts. I like to enjoy Tang Yuan throughout the year, not just for Lunar New Year!

tang yuan with black sesame filling with gold teaspoon

What is Tang Yuan?

Tang Yuan is commonly known as a Chinese dessert of glutinous rice balls which are served warm in either plain water or a sweet ginger syrup. They have the same chewy texture as Japanese mochi, and can be plain or more commonly contain a sweet filling, such as red beans, peanuts or black sesame.

You can also find savoury Tang Yuan with a filling made of minced pork and herbs, or a vegetarian version with spinach or other vegetables. The savoury version is typically shaped differently so that you don’t confuse them with the sweet dumplings.

tang yuan with black sesame in white bowls

Black Sesame Filling

A popular filling for Tang Yuan is black sesame paste, which provides a stark contrast to the white dumpling dough, as well as a delicious nutty and almost savoury flavour against the plain dumpling.

I only recently discovered black sesame seeds as a flavour, and now I am addicted! Previously, it was something I kept in the pantry to use as garnish for some Japanese recipes, but I had never actually tasted it as a main ingredient in sweet or savoury recipes. Black sesame is not an ingredient commonly used in Vietnamese desserts, but it is very popular in Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

During our recent trip to Japan, I got to try a wide array of desserts and biscuits using black sesame, and I instantly fell in love with the toasted nuttiness! The taste is very similar to the more usual yellow sesame seeds, such as in these Israeli-style Tahini Cookies (which I have always been a big fan of).

But what makes black sesame seeds so special is the colour – they are an ink black colour which, in itself, is a very unusual colour for desserts.

For these dumplings, the black sesame seeds are paired with butter and peanut butter to make a sweet, salty and nutty filling which is truly delicious and addictive. I added peanut butter here because I am also a fan of the peanut filling which is also common for Tang Yuan, and if you use crunchy peanut butter, you will have little bits of peanuts in your dumplings which adds a nice texture. Yum!

Tang Yuan Recipe

My recipe for Tang Yuan is similar to how I make the Vietnamese version of these glutinous rice balls, except I use a black sesame filling instead of mung beans.

I also like to serve these dumplings in a sweet ginger syrup, but I make it less sweet than the Vietnamese version. You can adjust the sweetness of the ginger syrup to taste.

When it comes to dumplings, there is a certain ratio of dough to filling that each person likes. Having made Tang Yuan many times, and with a variety of fillings, I have found that I like a greater dough to filling ratio, i.e. more dough, less filling. I find that, if there is too much filling, the dumpling will be too sweet as it won’t have enough dough to balance the flavours. Also, if you use a small amount of filling, there is less chance of the dough breaking during cooking and the filling leaking out.

However, you can adjust the ratio as you like. For example, you can double the amount specified below for the filling, but it means that you will have to stretch the dough out thinner so that it will be big enough to wrap around the filling.

How to Make Tang Yuan

Tang Yuan is comprised of 3 components:

The syrup to serve the dumplings
The dough for the dumplings
The filling for the dumplings

Step 1

Start by making the sweet ginger syrup so that you can set this aside for later. Bring the water to a boil, add the sugar, and then simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes until the liquid has thickened slightly into a syrup. Add the ginger slices in the last 5 minutes to let them infuse. If you like a stronger ginger flavour, infuse them for longer. You can also omit the ginger. Once the syrup is cooked to your liking, set it aside to use later.

Then get started on the black sesame filling. Place the black sesame seeds, sugar and salt into the bowl of a small food processor. A high-powered blender like a Nutribullet also works well, but use the smallest cup available. Blitz until you have a finely ground powder.

Step 2

Add the butter and peanut butter, and blitz again until you have a thick paste. If the blades do not pick up all of the ingredients, simply mix everything together with a spatula.

Transfer the paste to a large sheet of plastic wrap, and form a long log with the paste. Wrap the plastic around the paste and roll tightly to form a long, thin log.

Place the wrapped paste into the freezer for at least 30 minutes to firm up.

ground black sesame and sugar in blender

Step 3

While the Black Sesame Filling is in the freezer, make the dumpling dough. Place the flour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat paddle attachment. Slowly add the warm water, and keep mixing until everything starts to come together into a ball of dough.

If there remains too much flour in the bowl, plus the dough feels dry to the touch, add a dash of water. Generally, I find that the flour takes time to absorb the water, so it will take a few turns before everything is incorporated.

Use your hands to bring everything together into a ball. The dough should feel soft and pliable.

Step 4

Portion the dough into 28-30 small balls, each weighing about 18 g. If you want your dumplings to be even-sized, you will need a digital kitchen scale to make everything the same size.

Place the rolled balls of dough onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Loosely cover the dough with a large sheet of plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rest for at least 30 minutes. I find that the dough can be left like this for about 1 hour, after which it will become a little sticky from the condensation from sitting under the plastic wrap. If that happens, lightly sprinkle with some glutinous rice flour to remove the stickiness.

Step 5

While the dumpling dough is resting, portion the black sesame filling. Unwrap the filling, and use a sharp knife to cut 28-30 slices of filling, each weighing about 5 g. You will need a digital kitchen scale to portion evenly. I generally allow 1 g either side.

Roll each slice of filling into a smooth ball, and place the balls of filling onto a tray or plate lined with baking paper or plastic wrap.

Place the balls of filling into the freezer for at least 15 minutes to firm up again. The filling is easiest to handle when it is really cold and firm.

Step 6

To shape the dumplings, gently flatten a piece of dumpling dough between the palms of your hand, and stretch it out slightly so that it is big enough to wrap around the filling.

Use a pair of chopsticks to transfer a piece of filling onto the centre of the dumpling dough. The chopsticks will help to keep your hands clean and to prevent any black sesame getting onto the outside of the dough.

Wrap the dough around the filling and pinch the edges together. Roll the dough into a smooth ball and place it on a large baking tray lined with baking paper.

Repeat the above steps with the remaining dough and filling.

black sesame paste rolled into balls on baking tray

Step 7

At this stage, you can freeze the Tang Yuan. Simply place the tray of dumplings into the freezer (make sure the dumplings are not touching each other). After about 1 hour, the dumplings should be firm enough to place into a large ziplock freezer bag.

Step 8

To cook the Tang Yuan, half fill a saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Turn down the heat to medium-high so that the water is gently simmering.

Use a spoon to swirl the water, which will help prevent the dumplings from falling to the bottom of the saucepan and sticking. Gently drop the dumplings into the water (cook only as much as you want to eat or serve), stirring gently with a spoon.

Once the water comes back to a gentle simmer, add 125 ml/1/2 cup cold water. Repeat this step another 3 times. The dumplings should cook for a total of about 5 minutes.

Remove the dumplings to individual serving bowls, about 3-4 dumplings per person. Ladle over some warm sweet ginger syrup and serve immediately.

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