This is a popular post! Tangyuan was called in ancient times...

　　China News Service Client, Beijing, February 15 (Reporter Shangguan Yun) Today is the Lantern Festival.

At this time, glutinous rice balls or Yuanxiao are the seasonal delicacies that many people like.

　　Previously, "Tangyuan is understood to be eaten" has also been on the hot search, and many people have shared the method of eating glutinous rice dumplings on the Internet: glutinous rice balls with glutinous rice balls, crispy chocolate glutinous rice balls... There are quite a lot of tricks.

Data map: Old Street dumplings.

Photo by Zhang Hengwei

　　Many people know that glutinous rice balls are a traditional snack.

It has a very early origin and is rich in fillings, which can be sweet or salty, meat or vegetarian, and now there are various creative shapes and eating methods.

A Minimalist History of Tangyuan

　　The shape is round and the mouth is sweet, which is the first impression many people have of the dumplings.

　　Folklore expert Wang Juan introduced that glutinous rice balls had various names in ancient times,

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This kind of food existed in the pre-Qin period.

　　Song Dynasty poet Zhou Bida has a poem "Boiled Floating Yuanzi at Lantern Festival", which mentions "stars are shining in dark clouds, beads are floating in turbid water".

Some people think that the "beads" in the poems refer to glutinous rice balls.

　　Interestingly, Chen Zuolin in the Qing Dynasty once said in "Jinling Products Terroir", "The soup dumpling is called the Lantern Festival, and it is also named after the festival."

Data map: Tangyuan is made into a mahjong style.

Photo by Chen Chao

　　"In ancient times, glutinous rice balls or lantern festivals were generally round, with stuffing in the middle. In traditional Chinese concepts, it has the meaning of yin and yang wrapping and containing all things. Therefore, it is a seasonal food, symbolizing the seasons, especially the change of yin and yang, and also praying. It means reunion." Wang Juan said.

Fried or boiled, sweet or salty

　　The difference between Yuanxiao and Tangyuan is mainly reflected in the practice.

The Lantern Festival is made by shaking, and the dumplings are wrapped.

　　Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty recorded the practice of radish dumplings and gouache dumplings in his "Suiyuan Food List".

Among them, the radish dumplings are salty, and the method is "rolled shredded radish...and then boiled with sesame oil. The soup can also be rolled."

　　Some articles mentioned that when the ancients ate Lantern Festival, many fillings were "sweet", usually sugar mixed with crushed peanuts, walnuts, melon seeds, sesame seeds, etc.

In the Qing Dynasty, there was a master of Lantern Festival called Ma Siyuan, who also made Lantern Festival with sweet-scented osmanthus, sugar and walnut as fillings.

　　The poem "Shangyuan Bamboo Branches" written by Fu Zeng, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, wrote, "The sweet-scented osmanthus is stuffed with walnuts, and the rice is like a pearl.

　　In terms of production methods, glutinous rice balls can also be fried, steamed, fried and other methods.

Sometimes, the fried glutinous rice balls will have a puffed up piece, which is crunchy and delicious.

Data map: The prepared cartoon dumplings.

Photo by Li Xinran

This idiom is related to dumplings, you know?

　　In addition to eating and cooking methods, there are many interesting little knowledge about glutinous rice balls.

　　For example, there is an idiom "hollow glutinous rice balls", that is, glutinous rice balls without fillings, which is a metaphor for a promise that has a false name without real benefits or is not fulfilled.

　　Now, there are many more novel and creative shapes of glutinous rice balls.

For example, the "mahjong dumplings" that appeared earlier, the cartoon-shaped dumplings and so on.

In addition, there are various "trendy" flavors of glutinous rice balls, such as strawberries, flowers, and chocolate.

　　However, having said that, people like to eat glutinous rice balls because it symbolizes reunion and consummation, and embodies a good wish for the future life.

Therefore, its "hotness" will remain unchanged in the past.

(Finish)