秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃、湯圓過年必吃的2種吉祥食品開箱試吃評價文 / Dumplings and Glutinous rice Balls “Tangyuan” – 2 Chinese New Year Symbolic Lucky food Unbox & review

Dumplings and Glutinous rice Balls (Tangyuan”) – 2 Chinese New Year Symbolic Lucky food Unbox & review / 秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃、湯圓過年必吃的2種吉祥食品開箱試吃評價文

Dumplings and Glutinous rice Balls (Tangyuan”) – 2 Chinese New Year Symbolic Lucky food Unbox & review / 秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃、湯圓過年必吃的2種吉祥食品開箱試吃評價文

So I’ve just spent 2 weeks of sleepless nights documenting and listing all the rage eating #15DaysChallenge we’ve done over Chinese New Years via food delivery Apps. Guess what? Now that CNY is finally over, it is immediately followed by the Chinese Lantern Festival! This means another excuse to pig out on “tangyuan” (glutinous rice balls).” Yes, we invent a staple food for every major holiday in Chinese culture.
In this post, I’ll be introducing two staple foods eaten throughout Chinese New Years, with the ladder, “tangyuan,” eaten more specifically on Lantern Festival ( the last day of Lunar New Years).

中文版 / Chinese Version:
新年年假終於結束啦！殘編莫名其妙給自己設的新年外送ＡＰＰ連續15天怒吃一波挑戰把自己搞到連續兩個禮拜撐著大肚子、睡也睡不好，連續失眠趕稿15天，這15天忙著記錄殘家借者「過新年」的藉口不忌口的瘋狂飲食。結果新年過完了，好不容易可以喘口氣，卻又要過元宵吃超難消化的湯圓。也許是因為殘編跟殘媽新年怒吃這一波吃到一發不可收拾，以往只買「芝麻湯圓」的我們這次超市一圈逛下來竟怒買了所有口味的湯圓！
在這篇文章中，我將介紹農曆新年期間中國文化必吃的2種食物，已及殘編今年的的開箱食用心得，包括今年吃到最特別的餃子跟元宵節（農曆元旦的最後一天）所試吃到的「湯圓」。

#1: Dumplings / 餃子 （jiaozi）:

Dumplings and Glutinous rice Balls (Tangyuan”) – 2 Chinese New Year Symbolic Lucky food Unbox & review / 秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃、湯圓過年必吃的2種吉祥食品開箱試吃評價文

中國元寶 / Chinese ignots (image source: Pinterest)

If you’ve seen “Crazy Rich Asians,” you’d know that in Chinese tradition, family members come together on CNY and make their own dumplings from scratch. Dumplings are a must-eat on Chinese New Years because they are shaped like shoelike / boat-like golden ingots used as currency in ancient China. Hence eating dumplings on CNY symbolizes prosperity and wealth for the coming year.
However, supermarkets and grocery stores have been selling ready-to-cook, packaged dumplings for so long that growing up, our family never made our own dumplings. Last CNY, I purchased frozen dumplings from Yuloong, a long-standing dumpling chain since its inception in 1993. I remember I tried two of their flavors, and both were out of the world. This year, I unboxed dumplings from a new company, “Riri.” Riri has only been in business since 2010, but they have the most expansive and most unique flavors of dumplings you’d ever see.

中文版 / Chinese Version:
看過「瘋狂的亞洲富豪」的觀眾都知道，即便是在這個年代，也還是有很2即庭喜歡延續中國傳統、從餅皮到內餡，自己在家包餃子。餃子的形狀好似古代的「元寶」，因此過年吃，象徵著為來一年將才元滾滾、來年的繁榮和財富。
但是，超級市場和雜貨店早已在出售現成冷凍包裝好的餃子，以致從小到大，我們家人從來沒有自己做過餃子。去年過年，我從「四海遊龍」購買他們現成的冷凍餃子「四海遊龍」是一家歷史悠久的餃子連鎖店，自1993年就成立。我記得我試了其中的兩種口味，兩者都出類拔萃。今年，我被秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃給吸引。相較之下，秝秝是一家新公司，但是他們的餃子口味多到驚人，約有15種以上不一樣的口味，而且都是一般市面上看不到的獨特餡料，今年就決定來開箱試吃秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃，看它有多厲害。 秝秝從2010年才開始對外營業，但它們卻有您所見過的最豐富，最獨特的餃子口味。

• 新鮮材料製作的超大水餃 / Freshly Made Jumbo-sized Dumplings 

Each pack of dumplings from Riri comes with 30 pieces of jumbo-sized handmade dumplings stuffed with fillings. Each dumpling is about twice as big as a regular dumpling. No wonder the product name implies “filling explosion.” It’s important to stay focus when cooking dumplings from Riri because The filling literally explodes in the pot once you overcook them. The pork in the dumplings is made from freshly butchered pork and seasonal vegetables, making the end product exceptionally fresh.

中文版 / Chinese Version:
秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃一包有30粒，每一顆約是一班水餃的兩倍大，難怪取名為「飽滿爆餡」，因為真的很飽滿。一不小新煮過頭內陷變會在鍋中炸開，因此煮的時候千萬不要一心三用。材料也是真材實料，水餃的豬肉是使用當天的溫體豬在搭配當季的蔬菜製作而成的，所以很新鮮。

秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃口味 / Riri Dumpling flavours:

秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃口味 / Riri Dumpling flavours

秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃「木耳芹菜豬肉水餃」口味 / Riri Dumpling “Cloud ear fungus and Celery Pork Dumplings”

Riri handmade dumplings include a wide variety of different flavors; one of them even adds sweet corn, which quickly makes it a kid-pleaser. Even large families with three generations can all come together and share Riri dumplings happily. Dumpling flavours from Riri include “Leek and Pork Dumplings,” “Cabbage and Pork Dumplings,” “Spicy Basil Pork Dumplings,” “Carrots and Pork Dumplings,” “Sweet Corn and Pork Dumplings,” “Peeled Chili Pork Dumplings,” and “String Beans Pork Dumplings,” “Black Pepper Onion Pork Dumplings,” “Cloud ear fungus and Celery Pork Dumplings,” “pickled veggies and tofu Pork Dumplings,” “Taro Shiitake Mushroom Pork Dumplings,” “Magao Chayote leaves Pork Dumplings,” “Goji Berry Veggie Pork Dumplings,” “Chinese squash Pork Dumplings,” “Bamboo Shoots Pork Dumplings,” “Kimchi Pork Dumplings,” and “Chayote leaves Pork Dumplings.”
For my Openbox review, I tried the “Cloud ear fungus celery pork dumplings,” “pickled veggies and tofu Pork Dumplings,” and “Magao Chayote leaves pork dumplings.”The first time I learned about and tried the unique spice “Magao,” typically used by Taiwanese indigenous people, was my visit to Sanhoyan Taiwanese Restaurant. Adding Magao to dumplings is a first, so I had to try it. Each pack’s flavour is clearly indicated by circling the flavour you’ve purchased. making it easy for customers.

中文版 / Chinese Version:
秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃口味多元化，甚至還有加入小孩子喜歡的玉米口味，讓全家團圓時，就算三代同堂也能一次滿足全家大小、一起共享，吃得樂融融。
秝秝的水餃口味包括「韭菜豬肉水餃」、「高麗菜豬肉水餃」、「麻香九層塔豬肉水餃」、「紅蘿蔔豬肉水餃」、「玉米豬肉水餃」、「剝皮辣椒豬肉水餃」、「四季豆豬肉水餃」、「黑椒洋蔥豬肉水餃」、「木耳芹菜豬肉水餃」、「雪菜百頁豬肉水餃」、「芋香菇菇豬肉水餃」、「馬告龍鬚菜豬肉水餃」、「枸杞搭飛機菜豬肉水餃」、「絲瓜豬肉水餃」、「鮮筍豬肉水餃」、「泡菜豬肉水餃」、「龍鬚菜豬肉水餃」。
殘編這次開箱試吃的有「木耳芹菜豬肉水餃」、「雪菜百頁豬肉水餃」跟「馬告龍鬚菜豬肉水餃」會選擇有添加「馬告」的水餃是因為上次去吃参合院才第一次吃到這種原住民的香料，覺得能包進水餃太特別了！這因為出產麼多口味，秝秝貼心的將客人鎖定的每種口味用麥克筆特地在包裝袋上圈起，才不會搞混。

秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃試吃心得 / The Verdict:

秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃湯汁流出

Dumplings and Glutinous rice Balls (Tangyuan”) – 2 Chinese New Year Symbolic Lucky food Unbox & review / 秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃、湯圓過年必吃的2種吉祥食品開箱試吃評價文

To avoid the explosion of the generous amount of filling, you can tell that Riri even made its dumpling wrappers thicker than usual. Once bitten, it’s not just an explosion of ingredients; the soup is also equivalent to our famous soup dumplings (xiaolongbao). I recommend all to give Riri dumplings a try.

中文版 / Chinese Version:
為了避免大量水餃內餡炸開，可以看得出來秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃在製作水餃餅皮時有將其特別加厚。煮好後一口咬下，不僅是內陷的肉和青菜等填充物在嘴裡口爆，湯汁也相當於我們著名的小籠湯包一樣，在餅皮與湯匙內流動。殘編強力推薦粉絲們下次想吃水餃時可以來去訂幾包秝秝飽滿爆餡手工大水餃吃吃看。

#2. Glutinous Rice Balls (tangyuan) / 湯圓:

芝麻湯圓（非桂冠品牌） sesame tan yuan (new brand)

芝麻湯圓（非桂冠品牌） sesame tan yuan (new brand)

花生湯圓（非桂冠品牌） peanuts tangyuan (new brand)

桂冠花生湯圓 / matcha tangyuan from Laurel

Like I mentioned in my Chinese Moon Festival post, the word “round (“yuan” in Chinese) symbolizes “whole,” and thus the reunion of family and friends. The most common flavours of “tangyuan” available on the market include sesame, red bean, and peanuts. Sweet tangyuans are more common, whereas savoury tangyuan is more of a Hakka dish. Since we’re not Hakka, our family usually opts for sesame flavour only. However, it could be that CNY rage-eating is still on the roll. We went crazy and purchased sesame, peanuts, and matcha flavors for the sweet tangyuans, pretty much every flavour that came into sight. We used to stick to products from Laurel only, because they’re a long-standing and trusted brand. I mean, in Taiwan, better not try any fishy consumer products, right? However, COVID 19 pandemic has turned us all into hoarders. By the time we went to the supermarket to shop for tangyuans, Laurel‘s tangyuans were long gone. We were only able to snatch the last pack of glutinous rice balls from Laurel, and the only flavour left was the less popular “matcha” flavour. We tried other brands for the peanuts and sesame flavours and they turned out surprisingly good as well. As for the savoury ones, we ordered Hakka savory tanyuan online, which is still on its way to our delivery address. Now since we are not Hakka, this would be our first attempt at cooking savoury tangyuan. I did a little research, and it looks like savoury tangyuan is supposed to be cooked with Crown daisy. I’m no chef, so I don’t know where the idea came from, but I’m thinking of adding some mushrooms, dried shrimps, and maybe some bamboo shoots? (Don’t judge, I never went to culinary school)
Alright! Off to grocery shopping. Hopefully, it won’t be another epic fail. Worst comes to worst; I’ll just burn the kitchen down, or burn myself, AGAIN.

中文版 / Chinese Version:
殘編在中秋節的文章中有提到，中國文化「圓」一字象徵「團圓」，因此中國節慶與家人和朋友的團聚時特愛吃「圓形食品」。「湯圓」為元宵節必吃的食品。市場上最常見的“湯圓”口味包括「芝麻」、「紅豆」和「花生」等甜湯圓。鹹湯圓是客家菜，殘家不是客家人，所以以往我們家人只選擇「芝麻」口味，但可能這次的「新年怒吃天任務」以吃成壞習慣，這次去超市一圈，竟把「芝麻」、「花生」和「抹茶」通通買回家。過往咱家只信任「桂冠」家的湯圓，畢竟在台灣購物，還是買老牌子比較安全。可能是這次疫情把消費者都嚇壞了，「囤口罩」的概念已成了一種新的消費方式跟安全感，消費者也成為未雨綢繆的掃貨高手，「桂冠」牌子的湯圓早在我們去購物時已被一掃而空。咱們去搶湯圓時，桂冠牌的只剩比較冷門的「抹茶」口味的最後一包，因此今年破例試試其他品牌，結果其他品牌一樣是要刊流陷，不輸桂冠。除此之外，連沒吃過的客家鹹湯圓也網購運貨中。因為不是客家人，這將是殘家第一次首次嘗試煮鹹湯圓。為了怕浪費，殘編小小上網研究了一下，根據谷歌，鹹湯圓似乎要配茼蒿。我雖然不是大廚，但總覺得該加些蝦米、香菇跟竹筍絲（不要笑我，我可沒上過烹飪課！）
好了！殘編採購去，材料備齊了再來公佈結果！