The first reason is that in the production process, the focus of glutinous rice balls and Yuanxiao is actually different. In fact, Yuanxiao is made into stuffing first, and then it is slowly wrapped in the outer skin. After being evenly mixed, the size of the rice flour is gradually increased because it touches the stuffing, and then it is made into Yuanxiao after fully wrapping the stuffing. The practice of glutinous rice balls is essentially different from it. Tangyuan pays more attention to the leather bag like jiaozi, which wraps the stuffing in the middle. Therefore, it can be seen that Yuanxiao starts with the stuffing, while Tangyuan starts with the skin, so the two things are very different in making methods.
The second reason is that dumplings and Yuanxiao are also very different in taste. They are salty, or just like peanut stuffing and sesame stuffing, which give people a sense of My Sweetie. The stuffing of Yuanxiao gives people a strong texture, such as red bean paste and hawthorn. Moreover, because the two kinds of food are made in different ways, the methods they use are also different. The dish we often hear is fried Yuanxiao, but few people fry glutinous rice balls. In fact, this has a great relationship with their making methods and raw materials.
The third reason is that there are also differences between the two storage methods. We often see quick-frozen dumplings, and the shelf life is long. We can eat this kind of food on holidays other than Lantern Festival, but Yuanxiao is different. If Yuanxiao is refrigerated for a long time, the original taste and taste of Jiang rice flour or glutinous rice flour wrapped in the outer layer will be lost. It can be seen that Yuanxiao can only be preserved for three or two days, but not for a long time, so Yuanxiao is very different from Tangyuan.