A soft and chewy Chinese dessert, one of the typical dishes for Chinese New Year

If you have had enough the Tang Yuan made of glutinous rice flour, it is time to try the crystal ones for a change! The transparent skin of the crystal Tang Yuan is super easy to make, which calls for only three ingredients: tapioca starch, sugar and water.
As for the filling, the options are various. Here are a few delicious fillings available on the blog: sweet purple potato, mixed nuts, and marmalade of red beans. In this recipe, I am sharing another easy and flavorful one: filling with custard cream.

Check out the video recipe: how to prepare the filling of custard cream
A GLUTEN FREE DESSERT, SUPER EASY TO PREPARE
To prepare the dough of tapioca, we first need to cook a small portion of the tapioca starch in boiling water. The cooked tapioca becomes super sticky, which can be used as glue to hold the rest starch together into a compact dough.

Remember to wear the disposable kitchen gloves to avoid a crime scene in the kitchen!
WAYS TO ENJOY THE CRYSTAL TANG YUAN MADE OF TAPIOCA STARCH
You can enjoy the crystal Tang Yuan in many ways. Like the traditional Tang Yuan of glutinous rice flour, the crystal Tang Yuan can be served in the hot soup of ginger and sugar. Otherwise, you can enjoy them in sweetened cold milk or dip them into grounded nut.


CRYSTAL TANG YUAN: SWEET AND GLUTEN FREE TAPIOCA BALLS (水晶汤圆)
Course: SNACKCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Media20
Tangyuan1
hour15
minutesA soft and chewy Chinese dessert, one of the typical dishes for Chinese New Year
INGREDIENTS
- The Dough
Tapioca starch: 70g (20g + 50g)
Sugar: 1 tbsp
Water: 80ml (30ml + 50ml)
Sunflower oil (optional): 1 tbsp
- The custard cream filling
Milk powder: 60g
Wheat starch: 35g
Sugar: 60g
Fresh milk: 160g
Eggs: 3
Butter: 50g
- Utensils:
Disposable kitchen gloves
Scrapper
Preparation
- The filling (note 1)
- Put the milk powder, wheat starch, sugar and fresh milk in a bowl and mix them together.
- Break the eggs in another bowl and whisk them using a fork. Then add the eggs into the mixture prepared in the previous step.
- Sift the new mixture into a nonstick-pan. Add in the butter.
- Heat up the pan on low heat. Continue to stir the mixture in order to heat it up gradually and evenly.
- After 2-3 minutes, the mixture should have a more solid and compact texture. Take the pan off from the heat and leave the custard cream aside to let it cool.
- Divide the custard cream into small portions each around 5g. Roll each into a ball and put them in freezer for 4-5 hours.
Check the video recipe: how to prepare custard cream for Chinese dessert - The tapioca dough
- Put 20g tapioca starch, the sugar (and the sunflower oil) in a bowl. Add in 30ml water and mix everything together. In the meanwhile, boil the rest 50ml water in a pan.
- Once the water starts to boil, lower the fire and slowly pour the mixture (prepared in previous step) into the pan. Keep stirring.
- Continue to stir until the liquid turns condensed. The condensed mixture should be semi-transparent and with a super sticky consistency.
- Lay the rest 50g tapioca starch on a smooth platform. Put the condensed tapioca starch above.
- Cover the condensed starch with the raw starch with the help of a pasta scrapper. Then start to knead them into a dough until you get a compact and smooth dough. Remember to wear the disposable glove during the kneading process.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for 40 minutes.
- Assembling the crystal Tang Yuan
- Dust lightly the working surface with the tapioca starch. Roll the tapioca dough into a long sausage shape, then cut it into small pieces with each weights 7-8g.
- Flatten a piece on your palm then enlarge it. Take out the filling from the freezer. Place one portion of the filling at the center of the flattened dough and close it inside. Roll the ball between your palms to smooth the surface.
- Dust the surfaces of the balls lightly with tapioca starch to avoid them sticking together. (note 2).
- Cooking
- Boil some water with 3 slices of ginger and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Put the Tang Yuan gently into the boiling water.
- Lower the heat and cook the Tang Yuan for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and cover the lid. Leave the Tang Yuan in the hot water for 5 minutes.
- Serve the crystal Tang Yuan in a bowl with the cooking water/ sweetened milk/ coconut milk, etc. Or sprinkle some grounded nuts on top and enjoy!
VIDEO RECIPE
NOTE
- 1. Consider preparing the filling the day before to be more time efficient.
- 2. You can prepare the Tang Yuan in big quantity and store them in freezer. Whenever you would like to have some, just take them out and cook them following the steps in “Cooking”.
I wish you the best of the best in the year of rabbit! Thank you so much for the support. Wish the Tang Yuan, a symbol of reunion and sweetness, can bring joy and happiness to your family!

Check out my eBook for more lucky dishes for the Chinese New Year.

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