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When exactly is tangyuan time?? Technically for new year's or spring, but realistically, whenever I feel like something that feels as good to make as to eat with folks :)
Specifically, our favorite is heizhima tangayuan/黑芝麻汤圆, hot dumplings with sweet black sesame filling. Structurally, think jiandui, but boiled instead of deep fried, and with sweet black sesame paste inside, instead of plain white sesame on the outside. It's soft and chewy and comes in ginger soup! The sesame is rich and sweet without being overpowering, and honestly they're extremely easy to make, albeit repetitive. Dumplings aren't exciting prepwork lol, part of my recipe is putting on a show to watch while my hands are busy. It's a great combo for unwinding!

My favorite recipe is by Elaine of China Sichuan Foods, which goes into detail on why to use hot water for the dough, how to toast the sesame, includes pictures, and is generally very helpful! After getting comfortable with the process, my version of the recipe has become:

Ingredients
- For black sesame filling
  - 1/2 cup toasted black sesame
  - 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  - 1/8 tsp. salt
  - about 1/4 cup melted coconut oil - behaves differently when liquid; melt before measuring
- For dough
  - 2 cups glutinous rice flour
    - 3/4 cup cold water
    - 1/4 cup hot water
Instructions:
- To make the black sesame filling:
  - Rinse the sesames off
  - Toast until dry and fragrant
  - Grind into powder with a coffee grinder, not the bigger one
- In a bowl, mix black sesame with salt and sugar
- Melt the fat in a measuring cup, then add to dries
  - when in doubt, add oil slowly, overly oily tangyuan aren't pleasant
- With a small melon baller or 1/2 teaspoon, form paste into balls about 3/4in in diameter
- Cool in the fridge until solid.
  - If it's too hot for coconut oil to solidify at room temp, and they melt flat before you can put them in the fridge, add a step: pull them out of the fridge when stiff and reshape into real ball shapes. Awkward discs will cut through the dumpling skin.
To make the dough:
- Pull out a medium-sized bowl
- Make the dough.
  - No, this doesn’t have sugar.
  - For sweet dumplings, add powdered sugar and a little less water; the sugar makes it stickier.
- The earlobe test: does the raw dough feel about like an earlobe? Too dry and it will crack, too wet and it's a mess
- Depending on your order of operations, be ready to wrap the dough in plastic to wait or add water as it dries on its own
To make the balls:
- For each chilled sesame ball, pinch off about two or three balls worth of dough and flatten to about a quarter of an inch thick. Place the sesame in the middle and press the skin smooth
  - I find that a tricorn shape is good to start with
  - close the seams and pull the excess off where it breaks above the surface, to reuse
- roll into a ball!
- NB:
  - This week was so hot that I could only take about five balls out of the freezer before they would start being deformed
  - It was also hot enough that I had to put each completed dumpling in the fridge as I went, or they would flatten out on the counter
- If you somehow (lol) don't want to eat two dozen tangyuan right this minute, I've found that they freeze very well: Lay them out on a cookie sheet to solidify without touching, and then seal in a plastic freezer bag
To cook:
- Boil a pot of water with ginger and sugar. Adjust to taste and remember the ginger will strengthen.
  - We take ginger seriously, so I'll have the ginger steeping on the stove the whole time I've been prepping things.
- Drop tangyuan into the boiling water and stir a bit, so they don't stick to the bottom.
  - Cook like any dumpling!
    - Yes, they will grow; a certain size is my sign that they're done. We err on a bit longer when in doubt, because under-done dumpling skin is gross
Serve!
Thoughts:
- Remember to freeze as you go
- Do Not let the filling get wet!
- Don't use baking sugar either! The filling shouldn't be gritty :(
- Starting with fresh sesame is best, or else the nuttyness is generally lost in pre-toasted packages, I find.
  - otoh, rancid sesame is certifiably awful, so 'ware that :p
- The filling makes around two dozen dumplings, depending on expertise, but that leaves me with a large handful of dough left
  - add a single drop of yellow liquid color and a dash of powdered sugar (or to taste) and form into smaller balls! they're a fun addition to the final soup : D