Is there a difference between Yuanxiao and Tangyuan?
There are differences.
Yuanxiao and Tangyuan look alike at first glance, but they are actually different:
1, different manufacturing processes
North Lantern Festival, first mixed with stuffing, then spread into large round pieces, cooled and cut into squares smaller than table tennis. Then add water to the stuffing, put it into a dustpan, pour in a proper amount of glutinous rice flour, and sprinkle water while rolling until the stuffing is covered with glutinous rice flour and rolled into a ball.
South jiaozi, the practice is very simple, similar to wrapping jiaozi without a rolling pin. It is to knead glutinous rice flour into a ball with water and let it "wake up" for several hours. Wet glutinous rice flour is very sticky, you just need to pull a small ball of wet flour by hand and squeeze it into a circle. Pick up a ball of stuffing with chopsticks and put it on the glutinous rice slices, then turn your hands around to make dumplings.
2. Different storage time
Yuanxiao river noodles are thin and dry. When cooked in a pot, the rice noodles absorb water and become mushy, and the skin and stuffing are chewy, so it should not be stored for too long. The skin of glutinous rice balls already contains enough water, which is delicate and soft. It tastes best when cooked now, and it can also be refrigerated.
3. Different fillers
Sweet stuffing is commonly used in Yuanxiao, but there are two kinds of stuffing and no stuffing, and there are salty, sweet, meat and vegetarian stuffing with stuffing. Of course, that was a thing of the past. Now, regardless of the Yuanxiao dumplings, there are all kinds of wonderful fillings, only unexpected and impossible.
4. Different tastes
Yuanxiao tastes rough, and the fillings are mostly sweet, usually white sugar and sesame seeds. After cooking, it won't be as clear as glutinous rice balls, the water is a little turbid, the skin is soft, and the filling is hard, which is very "biting". Jiaozi is soft and waxy.
How to eat jiaozi and Yuanxiao healthily?
1, Tangyuan is not suitable as a staple food.
The main component of glutinous rice is starch, the content is about 75%-77%, and amylopectin is the main component, which is higher than rice, which is doomed to be difficult to digest.
Therefore, glutinous rice balls should not be used as a staple food and should not be eaten on an empty stomach. Normal adults should eat no more than six dumplings per meal, and it is advisable for babies not to eat more than three or four.
2. Tangyuan original soup turned into original food.
Boiling jiaozi in water is the easiest way and the healthiest way to eat it. Glutinous rice flour contains more water-soluble vitamins, most of which are dissolved in soup during cooking. For example, vitamin B 1, vitamin B2, etc. Vitamin B 1 can promote the synthesis of acetylcholine in human body and ensure the normal gastrointestinal peristalsis and secretion function of digestive glands.
On the contrary, high-temperature frying will destroy many nutrients contained in jiaozi, reduce the warm-keeping effect of jiaozi, and even lead to obesity.
3. You can't eat hot jiaozi if you are impatient.
After jiaozi is cooked, you must eat it slowly to avoid being scalded by hot sugar stuffing and sticky rice skin. Medical research has confirmed that food burns are likely to cause esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and other related diseases. Some people swallow dumplings as soon as they are hot, which is even more harmful.