Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month. Lantern Festival is also called Shangyuan Festival, Lantern Festival, Xiaoyuanxi, Yuanxi and so on. The original meaning of "Yuanxiao" is "the night of the Lantern Festival". The main festival activities are eating dumplings and enjoying the moon at night. Later, the name of this festival evolved into "Lantern Festival".

Speaking of Lantern Festival, it is essential to have "glutinous rice balls". Since ancient times, there have been great cultural differences between north and south, especially in diet. In the north, it is called Yuanxiao, but in the south, it is called Tangyuan. In fact, Yuanxiao in the north and Tangyuan in the south are different in many ways except for their names. The following small series will take you to understand.

Do it another way.

Tangyuan is "wrapped" and its skin is smooth and sticky.

Tangyuan is made of raw glutinous rice flour into dough with hot water or cold water, and then all kinds of stuffing pericardium are put in and kneaded into a circle.

Yuanxiao is "rolled out" with dry and soft skin.

Yuanxiao is to make a solid filling, cut it into small pieces, dip it in water, then shake it on a sieve filled with raw glutinous rice flour, and sprinkle some water while shaking it until the filling is completely pulverized and rolled into a ball.

Different fillers

The stuffing of glutinous rice balls is soft, and there are many choices of salty and sweet vegetarian dishes.

In addition to the traditional five kernels, bean paste and hawthorn cake, the stuffing of glutinous rice balls also has many flavors such as coarse grains, fruits and flowers.

The stuffing of Yuanxiao is hard, usually single and sweet.

Yuanxiao is much more specific. Common fillings are sweet mouth, black sesame and red bean paste.

Eat differently

Tangyuan is mostly cooked and fried.

If you cook jiaozi, the cooking time is relatively short, and it will float in about 3-5 minutes. The boiled soup is clear soup.

Yuanxiao is mostly fried or cooked.

If you cook Yuanxiao for a long time, often more than 10 minute, the boiled soup becomes turbid because the raw glutinous rice flour absorbs water.

Different storage methods

Tangyuan can be frozen in the freezing layer of refrigerator with long shelf life; However, the Lantern Festival is not acceptable. It is easy to crack after freezing and has a short shelf life. Therefore, handmade Yuanxiao is often made and sold on the same day.

However, it should be noted that with the current economic development and the integration of North and South cultures, the difference between glutinous rice balls and Yuanxiao is not so obvious!