Celebrate the Lunar New Year by making tong yuen and visiting a flower market

Difficulty: Explorer (Level 1)

Lunar New Year is one of the most exciting times in Hong Kong. The city is full of bright red decorations, delicious smells and happy celebrations. It is a wonderful chance to explore traditions with your family.

For example, you can visit a flower market. These pop up all over the city just before the new year.

Another great family activity is making sweet rice dumplings, called tong yuen, for your Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner. This is a classic dessert that symbolises being together as a family. You can talk and laugh as you work. Eating the warm, sweet tong yuen you made together makes the dessert taste even better.

By exploring the markets and cooking together, your family can create happy memories as you welcome the new year.

Easy tong yuen recipe

Ingredients

• 13 pieces of chocolate (around 1cm by 1cm)

• 150g of glutinous rice flour

• 112ml of hot water

• 700ml of water

• 3 tbsp of brown sugar

• 1 thin slice of ginger

Instructions

1. Mix the glutinous rice flour and hot water together with a fork. Knead until it is a soft ball of dough. The texture should be like playdough. Add more water if it is too dry. If it is too sticky, add more rice flour.

2. Cover the dough with a damp towel to keep it from drying out. Pull out a piece of dough to make a 3cm ball. Push a piece of chocolate into the middle of the ball, close the opening and roll it back into a ball. As you make more, cover the finished ones with a damp towel so they do not get too dry.

3. Combine the 700ml of water, brown sugar and thinly sliced ginger in a pot. With an adult’s help, bring it to a boil, then add the balls and cook until they float. Serve the tong yuen with the broth.

Tong yuen symbolise the family spending time together. Photo: Shutterstock

Visit a flower market

Find a flower market near your home. The special Lunar New Year flower markets will close by February 17, but you can always visit the regular flower markets around the city.

Go with your family to walk through the colourful stalls. You can pick out a beautiful pot of flowers together. Taking home your new plant feels like carrying a piece of good fortune.

Can you spot any of these lucky plants?

• Kumquat trees: covered in little golden fruits for good luck

• Peach blossom trees: believed to bring happiness and good relationships

• Lucky bamboo: believed to bring good fortune

In Chinese culture, colours like red and gold are considered lucky. Pick your favourite flower in one of these colours and draw it.

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