Took me 3 times to get it right but no matter, because at last I managed to satisfy my tong yuen craving which had been bugging me for the past week. The previous two failures were due to my own carelessness. I used rice flour instead of glutinous rice flour. The balls made with ordinary rice flour ended up hard as pebbles and still floury on the inside….they were disgusting.
So, ladies and gentlemen. Remember, to make tong yuen, tang yuen or glutinous rice balls…GLUTINOUS RICE FLOUR is your friend. Tepung pulut. Loh mai fun.
And while twittering about my tong yuen making adventure (or failures), so many people remarked how easy it is, how it’s not considered cooking cause it’s so easy, how to make them properly, etc. Talk about superiority complex! Some people do get it wrong, you know. People like me. People like me who make tong yuen until they’re on the verge of tears because the damn balls wouldn’t float!
And so, here is a pictorial guide in making tong yuens that will float when they’re cooked. First of all you need a couple of ingredients.
1. GLUTINOUS rice flour.
2. Water
3. Ginger
4. Gula Melaka (for the filling, of course you can put other filling also like azuki/red bean paste, peanuts, use your creativity etc)
5. Honey rock sugar (for the soup)
6. Pandan leaves (for the soup, optional, i can’t be bothered)
#1 – Glutinous rice flour.
You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t given any quantity. I don’t cook like that. I eye, and so should you.