Tastes of December Brianna Cheng & Bella Reeves The brilliant glow of lights inside the house illuminates the cold, dark street outside. A faint chatter emanates from the glowing house, punctuated by bursts of loud laughter. The partygoers are warm and sheltered from the cold night outside. The smells of delicious home-cooked dishes emerge from the mahogany table surrounded by friends and family members. Winter has many diverse celebrations; let’s see what each family celebrates.
Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice Festival is celebrated across Asia around Dec. 21. Since it is celebrated on the shortest day of the year, its origins can be traced back to the philosophy of yin and yang; yin is dark, female energy and yang is positive, male energy. The festival is seen as a release of yang energy that causes the days to get longer and warmer. Traditional celebrations differ depending on the country, but in China, traditional dishes are generally split by north and south: in the north, people eat dumplings, and in the south, they eat glutinous rice balls. “There is a saying among the folks that ‘you will be one year older after eating glutinous rice balls.’ The glutinous rice ball, called tāngyuán in Chinese, is made with glutinous rice flour and sugar. ‘Yuan’ sounds like ‘reunion’ and ‘accomplishment,’” Herrick Chui explained. Chui immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong a few decades ago but still tries to maintain traditional customs and reminisces on his childhood memories of the holiday. “The Winter Solstice is also considered a sort of New Years’ as well, although the celebration is smaller. All the family members get together, eat the tang yuan, and take the day off since it’s a proper holiday. Since here we don’t have a special day off as a holiday, we make do with the time that is available. I just call and remind them that today is the winter festival; you can make some tangyuan yourself, or go buy some from the store, since having some is better than none!” Chui said.
Great Uncle’s tang yuan Ingredients: Glutinous rice flour Water Brown sugar
Make a mountain of glutinous rice flour, and mix in water little by little until a soft dough is formed Form the dough into small balls, around 1-1½ in. in diameter. Put water into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil; drop dough balls into the water and boil until they float to the top of the water (do not overcrowd the pot, depending on size, about 10 balls per batch.) Change out the water. Boil water in pot, add brown sugar to desired sweetness, add cooked dough balls back to sugar water and heat until warm. Serve about 6-7 dough balls per bowl with sugar soup.
Art by Brianna Cheng
6 HIGHLANDER FEATURES
