Soft and chewy pumpkin glutinous rice balls (tang yuan) are filled with nutty and lightly sweetened black sesame peanut filling served with tapioca pearls in a sweet coconut milk broth. They are such a treat and different from the conventional tang yuan in sweet ginger broth.
With the abundance of pumpkin stash in my freezer, this is another great reason to turn them into pumpkin tang yuan. As the winter solstice festival (dongzhi festival) is drawing close this month, on December 21st, I just want to add this into my tang yuan recipe collection 🙂 I particularly love the addition of tapioca pearls with the tang yuan and serving them in a sweet coconut milk broth. Such a treat! It’s like eating a bubur cha cha with mochi balls 🙂
I wrote in more detail about the celebration in this Tang Yuan with Peanut Filling if you are interested to read more about it. Otherwise, let’s get started with the cooking!
How to make pumpkin tang yuan with tapioca pearls and coconut milk
1. Prepare tapioca pearls
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add tapioca pearls and let them boil for about 10 minutes. Stirring it every now and then to prevent the pearls from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
You will see the whitish spot in the middle but the small pearl this size should have cooked through. They should be soft and slightly chewy
Strain off the water and rinse the pearl in cold running water to wash off any extra starch. I like to submerge them in room temperature water to prevent stickiness, or you can stir in a bit of honey to sweeten and to prevent them from sticking to each other
2. Prepare coconut broth
Put coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil or the coconut milk will curdle. Just let is simmer until it’s heated to warm and sugar is melted. Season with a very small pinch of salt. Set aside
3. Prepare filling
Put the black sesame seeds and peanuts in a blender and process them until they are crushed into fine pieces. Add sugar and oil and stir to combine. There’s no need to refrigerate this
4. Prepare tang yuan dough
Mix glutinous rice flour with icing sugar. Stir to combine and set aside. Steam the pumpkin and then mashed while it’s still hot.
Add this hot mashed pumpkin into the flour mixture
Stir to combine with a spoon
When it’s not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a dough. You may need to add a bit of warm water if the dough is too dry. You may not need to add any at all too, it depends on how moist or dry the pumpkin is
The dough should be soft and pliable.
Divide into 14 equal pieces and keep them covered to prevent drying out. Work with one dough at a time
5. Fill and shape tang yuan
Get one dough and roll into a ball. Use your thumb to make an indentation, deep and wide enough for the filling.
Add filling
Gather the edge of the dough to seal the ball.
Roll it into a smooth round ball.
6. Boil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add the tang yuan. They will sink to the bottom at first
Cook until they float to the top.
Use a slotted spoon to remove from the water
Submerge in a clean fresh water. This is to prevent the tang yuan from sticking to each other
7. Serving
Portion the cooked tang yuan into serving bowls. Add the tapioca pearls and then ladle the coconut broth over and serve
Tips
1. Make sure the pumpkin is hot enough when you mix with the flour mixture. This helps to make smooth pliable dough that doesn’t crack easily
2. The amount of liquid to make the dough really depends on how moist the mashed pumpkin is. So add a bit of water at a time, teaspoon by teaspoon until you can form a dough
2. I can’t stress the importance of rolling the tang yuan into a smooth ball without any seams or cracks as the filling may leak out from there when you boil it
3. Only cook the amount of tang yuan you plan to eat that day as cooked tang yuan cannot be stored for a long term
How to store
The best way to store tang yuan is to freeze them BEFORE you boil them. Here’s how:
1. Place the small dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, not touching each other
2. Put them in the freezer for 15 minutes and then transfer to a freezer bag, they won’t stick to each other anymore
3. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 months. Do not thaw and they go to hot boiling water to cook until heated through
Did you make this pumpkin tang yuan recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
You might also like these tang yuan recipes:
TANG YUAN WITH NATURAL COLORS (WEDANG RONDE)
TANG YUAN WITH PEANUT FILLING
HAKKA SAVORY MEAT-STUFFED TANG YUAN
SAVORY GLUTINOUS RICE BALLS IN FISH MAW SOUP (TANG YUAN)
Pumpkin Black Sesame Tang Yuan with Tapioca/Sago Pearls and Coconut Milk
Ingredients
Tapioca pearls:
- 100 gr small tapioca pearl
- Water
Tang yuan dough:
- 100 gr pumpkin puree see notes
- 120 gr glutinous rice flour plus extra as needed
- 40 gr icing sugar
- Hot water as needed this depends on the moisture in your pumpkin, you may not need to add any water
Black sesame peanut filling:
- 40 gr black sesame powder
- 20 gr peanuts
- 40 gr sugar
- 1 ½ Tbsp oil
Sweet coconut broth:
- 4 cups coconut milk
- 100 gr brown sugar more or less to your taste
- 3 screwpine leaves (pandan leaves) knotted
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Prepare the tapioca pearls:
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add tapioca pearls and let them boil for about 10 minutes. Stirring it every now and then to prevent the pearls sticking to the bottom of the pan. You will see the whitish spot in the middle but the small pearl this size should have cooked through. They should be soft and slightly chewy. Strain off the water and rinse the pearl in cold running water to wash off any extra starch. I like to submerge them in room temperature water to prevent stickiness, or you can stir in a bit of honey to sweeten and to prevent them from sticking to each other
Coconut broth:
- Put coconut milk, sugar, and pandan leaves in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil or the coconut milk will curdle. Just let is simmer until it's heated to warm and sugar is melted. Season with a very small pinch of salt. Set aside
Black sesame peanut filling:
- Put the black sesame seeds and peanuts in a blender and process them until they are crushed into fine pieces. Add sugar and oil and stir to combine. There's no need to refrigerate this
Prepare the dough:
- Mix glutinous rice flour with icing sugar. Stir to combine and set aside
- Steam the pumpkin and then mashed while it's still hot. Set aside 100 gr of mashed pumpkin to be used in this recipe. You can freeze the rest for other use
- Add this hot mashed pumpkin into the flour mixture and stir to combine with a spoon. When it's not too hot anymore, use your hand to knead into a dough. You may need to add a bit of warm water if the dough is too dry. You may not need to add any at all too, it depends on how moist or dry the pumpkin is
- The dough should be soft and pliable. Divide into 14 equal pieces and keep them covered to prevent drying out. Work with one dough at a time
Fill and shape the tang yuan:
- Get one dough and roll into a ball. Use your thumb to make an indentation, deep and wide enough for the filling. Add filling and then gather the edge of the dough to seal the ball
- Roll it into a smooth round ball. It is very important to roll it smooth without any seams. Any cracks or seams are potentials for the filling to leak out when you boil it later, especially if you use the oozy black sesame filling. If at any point the dough is dry, dab with some water and it helps to roll the dough smooth. Continue with the rest until you run out of dough and filling. Keep them covered with a damp cloth or plastic wrap
Boil the tang yuan:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tang yuan. They will sink to the bottom at first. Cook until they float to the top and then cook for another minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the water and submerge in another bowl of fresh clean water. This is to prevent the tang yuan from being sticky
Serving:
- Portion the cooked tang yuan into serving bowls. Add the tapioca pearls and then ladle the coconut broth over and serve
