Part A : Winter Solstice Festival

For Winter Solstice Festival (Dongzhi) last year, my family rejoiced it like any other Chinese. Firstly, we made glutinous rice, tangyuan, using coloured glutinous rice flour and sesame or peanut as the filling. My mother chopped the peanuts and mixed them with sugar while we added the right amount of water to the glutinous rice flour. Then, we knead the dough for a few minutes before adding colouring to it. Thereafter, we continued with the molding. Subsequently, we pinched off pieces of the dough and flattened them. We put a spoonful of the crushed peanuts on the flattened dough and rolled the amalgamation into a globe. Next, we dropped the spheres into boiling water and cooked them until they floated. We added brown sugar into the boiling water to make the savory broth. After approximately ten minutes, the ingredients had transformed into bright glutinous rice balls complemented with saccharine soup. The processes of making the festive food together have bonded our relationship and I have learnt to better understand and cooperate with my family. I have ascertained that much can be accomplished when we work together as a family.
We ate the glutinous rice for breakfast and searched for other forms of entertainment. My mother was left busy with the steaming of prosperity cake (fa gao), and preparation of the reunion dinner with my relatives from the paternal family. As Chinese prioritise the Winter Solstice festival more than Chinese New Year, we tend to spent more effort in it. Winter Solstice Festival is a time for reunion.

Done by : Pan Fei