Sticky Rice Balls

Have you ever seen such a big Sticky Rice Ball?

Living in Taiwan, you could experience many different cultures, no matter it comes from western or eastern countries, you can get any food that you want/like.

I was work for a small company, although it's a small company the people who work there are very kind. One of my colleagues who's from Vietnam and married to a Taiwanese man, is one of my coworkers. Because I have been to Vietnam many times, I like to talk about Vietnam with her. Vietnamese food, cities in Vietnam, we always have fun when we're chatting. I really miss one thing about Vietnam which is Vietnamese food. After we talked about this, I knew she is good at cooking traditional Vietnamese snacks. I asked her if she could show me how to cook a home made Vietnamese dish. She was surprised that I want to learn how to cook Vietnamese food, but she still said OK with a big smile.

After a few days, on a Monday morning, the Vietnamese lady had an odd smile and said that she wanted to share something with me. It really surprised me, and I asked, 'What is it?'. She said she made Vietnamese Sticky Rice Balls at home and wanted me to try if it taste good or not. Well, the Vietnamese Sticky Rice Balls really impressed me because I have never seen such a big Sticky Rice Ball in Taiwan, and it also looks cute. She tried to explain to me that Sticky Rice Balls in Vietnam are usually served with cold soup ( if you have ever tried it in Taiwan you would know Sticky Rice Balls are usually served with hot soup), because it could make the sweet flavor taste better. I asked her what the stuffing is made of, she wouldn't tell but wanted me to try by myself to see what's the difference between Vietnamese and Taiwanese Sticky Rice Balls.

It's tea time, now! And I remember that I have two big Vietnamese Sticky Rice Balls. I put a cold Sticky Rice Ball into my mug,  I try what the soup tastes like... It tastes very sweet, made from ginger and brown sugar. Next would be to try the Vietnamese Sticky Rice Balls. First bite; the stuffing is salty green bean, very different than the Taiwanese style. The stuffing of Taiwanese Sticky Rice Balls is usually made from either red bean, sesame or peanuts.

I never use too salty a stuffing inside Sticky Rice Balls but with sweet soup. I felt weird about this flavoring, but when you taste it together, hmm, it's very balanced. I asked the Vietnamese lady again, is the Vietnamese Sticky Rice Ball really that big? She just smiled at me and said:  'No, I am a bit lazy, I might have to make many many Sticky Rice Balls if I make it too small, but if I make it bigger, then I don't have to spend so much time for make it.'.

Well,  I don't know what to say about this.

The traditional Taiwanese Sticky Rice Ball usually is without stuffing. Fried Chinese mushrooms,  dried shrimp and julienne of meat, and you could add some flavoring like soya sauce, salt etc.; then add soup-stock until it's boiling. Add Sticky Rice Balls to be boiled in the heated vegetable soup until it's boiling again, finish.

This would be the traditional way to cook the sticky rice balls,  but there are many different ways to cook it as well.

Besides the salty flavor it also good for taste as dessert. In a Taiwanese wedding, usually you could see a dish which is deep fried, small Sticky Rice Balls with peanut powder mixed with sugar, it means completely happiness.
No matter what kind of way to cook Sticky Rice Balls, it's important food in the winter solstice day. Chinese use to cook a pot of sticky rice balls soup, it means that you a year older after you eat the sticky rice balls.

In the Chinese calendar, the winter solstice day has longest night in a year, and it also have a tale about the weather of the winter solstice day: If it rains in the winter solstice day then it would be sunny day in Chinese new year, but if it's a sunny day in the winter solstice day then it would be a raining day in the Chinese new year. Now I wonder what's the weather in this Chinese New year, because I don't remember what was the weather in  the winter solstice day. But anyway, I still hope it will be nice weather during Chinese new year.