Hearty sweet soup 養生甜湯

It's winter. It's cold and windy today. While we were watching "the Forsyte Saga", I was in the mood of something sweet. The sweet soup is just right for the moment. It has a lot of nutritious ingredients in it, and it's good for you! It is also a traditional Chinese sweet soup that people eat at weddings or winter holidays. In the picture below, in clockwise order:

• Lotus seeds (蓮子): sounds similar to "nian", meaning a couple will live happily together for 100 years.
• Longan (桂圓): sounds similar to "yuan", meaning "perfect and whole".
• Red dates (紅棗) and black dates (黑棗): sounds similar to "zi", meaning "get a son soon".
• Wolfberries (枸杞)

-- A few slices of ginger

-- Glutinous rice balls (湯圓) (see below)

• Glutinous rice flour 40 g (5 parts)
• Water 32 g (4 parts)
• Pink food color (a few drops) (see footnote 1)

       1) Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

       2) Take 1/5 of the dough and flatten it. 

       3) Cook it into boiling water until it floats to the top (should be within minutes). Take it out and let cool.

       4) Rub the cooked dough and raw dough together. If it gets too sticky, add a little more flour.

       5) Shape into small balls (about the tip of the thumb).

Sweet soup:

1) In a pot, add about 1 liter (8 cups) of water, add a handful of each ingredient except the rice balls. Bring to a boil.

2) Sweeten it with honey and/or sugar. All these ingredients have a natural sweet taste, so watch the amount of sugar.

3) Drop the rice balls into the boiling soup. Cook until the balls float to the top.

4) Add Korean red ginseng extract (optional) just before serving. 

Sweet your mouth; warm your heart ...

Footnote1:

Red! Chinese loves red. Anything good (weddings, birthdays, new year, etc.) is decorated with red.