Time for traditional treats

Making tangyuan is one of the traditions during Lantern Festival. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

There are plain dumplings, the way my Hakka family makes them, and there are those stuffed with fillings that can be sweet or salty.

The sweet variety can be filled with red bean or jujube paste, ground sesame seeds, walnuts, rose petals and tangerine peel, while savory fillings might include minced meat, minced vegetables and mixed nuts with ham.

The method of making dumplings between the north and the south is quite different.

The usual way followed in southern provinces is to mix the glutinous rice flour with water in advance to make a manageable dough and then shape it into balls to make plain dumplings. If you fancy filled dumplings, then make a hole in each ball and insert the filling inside, closing the hole and smoothing out the surface by rolling the ball between the palms of your hands.

In the north, the filling is pressed into a hardened core, dipped slightly in water and then rolled on a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour, allowing the flour to stick on the filling.

This process is repeated over and over by dipping it in water and rolling it in the rice flour like making a snowball, until the dumpling grows to the desired size.