🍽️ Teochew Tangyuan

Chaozhou sweet tangyuan in herbal syrup.

Teochew Tangyuan, locally called Ya Mu Nian, is a traditional sweet-soup specialty of Chaozhou. It is actually a stuffed glutinous-rice ball: a rice-flour skin wraps red bean, sesame or peanut paste, pinched into an oval shaped like a duck egg, which gives the dish its name. Cooked balls are served in a sweet syrup simmered with longan, snow fungus, lily bulb and lotus seeds; the balls are soft and chewy, the syrup clear and soothing. Unlike ordinary savory yuanxiao, it is an afternoon or late-night dessert for Chaozhou people, served year-round at sweet-soup shops along Paifang Street. A steaming bowl arrives sweet but never cloying, and it captures the Teochew dessert aesthetic of clearness, gentleness and delicate craft.