[Free Pattern] Chinese New Year: Tangyuan (Kueh Ee) Amigurumi Crochet Pattern・农历新年(元宵节): 钩针编织汤圆/汤团

Today is the 15th day of the Chinese New Year, the last day of the CNY. The last day of the CNY is known as Yuanxiao Festival (yuán xiāo jié元宵节), literally "first night festival", because it marks the first full moon of the new year. In Singapore and Malaysia, the last day is also referred to as Chap Goh Mei (十五眠), Hokkien for "15th night". It is also the Chinese Lantern Festival, as a long-standing custom since ancient times was to light and hang colourful lanterns and solve lantern riddles on this day. Like other days of the CNY, the origins of the Yuanxiao Festival is shrouded in legends and folklore. In ancient times, the Yuanxiao Festival was also a day of courtship and matchmaking, as young ladies were able to roam outside their homes while carrying lanterns. In our region however, a different and curious custom arose: young ladies would throw mandarin oranges into the river or sea in hopes that they would find a good spouse.

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post).

The kueh traditionally eaten on the last day of CNY is tangyuan汤圆, a food item that originated from China and came over, with its traditional customs, to our region with Chinese traders and settlers centuries ago. Thus, to end this year's CNY festivities, my final CNY special for 2022 is tangyuan amigurumi (pattern below).

Yuanxiao Festival, the night of the first full moon (IG post).

Tangyuan is commonly known in English as glutinous/sticky rice balls but since ancient times, tangyuan also goes by other Chinese names. Since the Yongle era (1402-1424), they have been known as yuán xiāo元宵 by northern Chinese, while they are referred to as tāng yuán汤圆 or tāng tuán汤团 by southern Chinese. They are also sometimes called yuán zǐ圆仔. Another story is that Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) disliked the name yuán xiāo 元宵 because it could be seen as a homophone for yuán xiāo 袁消, meaning "remove Yuan" (from power) or "eradicate Yuan", and ordered its name to be officially changed to tangyuan. Some may see this as more than pure coincidence considering Yuan's political rise and fall from power. Personally, I'm sceptical about this story's veracity, considering the tendency to use stories or reframe history to discredit individuals with notorious legacies, like a form of damnatio memoriae.

In Singapore and Malaysia, tangyuan is also known by its Baba Malay/Malay name kueh ee (or kuih ee), which literally means "round cake" in Malay and Hokkien ("ee" is Hokkien for "round"). It is also known by the Teochew name ah balling or ah boling, the name deriving from the Teochew "ah boh leng"鸭母卵 or "ah bo nin"鸭母捻, meaning "mother duck's egg" and "floating mother duck" respectively. As local stories go, apparently this was because of tangyuan's resemblance to duck eggs or ducks bobbing on water.

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post). Tangyuan also goes by other names: yuan xiao 元宵, yuan zi 圆仔, tang tuan 汤团, as well as kueh ee and ah balling (or ah boling) in Singapore.

Tangyuan has been eaten for over a thousand years. How long ago seems unclear. Tangyuan is said to date back to the Song dynasty (960-1279AD), originating from a city called Mingzhou (present-day Ningbo). But it is also said that during the Tang dynasty (618-690AD, 705-907AD), people of Ningbo ate glutinous rice balls stuffed with sweetened black sesame filling. Among the various legends of Yuanxiao Festival's origins, a popular legend is that of a young palace maid named Yuanxiao, during the Han dynasty (202BC-9AD, 25-220AD). She had been taken to the palace to serve the emperor at a young age and was not able to see her family again since. She grew so homesick that she became despondent and suicidal. One day, the emperor's trusted advisor found her weeping in a garden. After hearing her story, he was so moved by her filial piety that he promised to find a way to help her reunite with her family. His ruse (which involved making offerings of tangyuan to the God of Fire) succeeded and Yuanxiao was able to reunite with her family.

It is therefore no coincidence that along with the full moon, we end CNY with hanging lanterns and eating tangyuan in a second family reunion. Besides mimicking the full moon, the roundness of tangyuan signifies togetherness and family harmony. Tangyuan even sounds similar to tuán yuán团圆, "reunion". Besides Chap Goh Mei, tangyuan is typically eaten during the Winter Solstice, known as Dongzhi冬至 or Tang Chek to the Chinese and Peranakans here, also a time for family reunions. One of the traditions here is for family members to gather around and make tangyuan.

Okay, if this conjures up the dumpling-making scene in Crazy Rich Asians, I assure you, a real life scene does not look that calm and clean, and nobody looks that coiffed and poised. By the way, it's not only Asian Americans who chafe at the disconnect with some antiquated cultural concepts and the varying degrees of toxic Asian parenting disguised as "filial piety". Some people may think this is not an appropriate topic to bring up on a day for family harmony, but I think it is precisely why this topic ought to be highlighted, because we should be aware that not everybody comes from loving and supportive families, and some have been indelibly scarred by childhood trauma from toxic parenting or toxic family/household environments. Whitewashing or excusing it with notions of "tradition" or "culture" does not cut it. True family harmony does not come from simply going through the motions of sitting together at the dining table and eating tangyuan on Yuanxiao Festival or a reductionist belief that "the family that eats together stays together".

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post).

Most people are familiar with the large, white tangyuan that are filled with sweetened ground peanuts or sesame seeds. However, there are also unfilled tangyuan, and savoury ones with meat filling. These days, we even have crystal skin tangyuan (水晶汤圆), which look like beautiful glass marbles, see for e.g. Sohu (Chinese), What to Cook Today and Vancouver Pigout. And I can't help but include these cute Totoro tangyuan by Little Miss Bento!

For some Peranakans and Chinese in Singapore, the tangyuan eaten during Tang Chek and Chap Goh Mei tend to be small, unfilled ones that are traditionally coloured red or bright pink, and white. Sometimes the tangyuan are also coloured green or yellow, like in this Roti & Rice recipe. Whether filled or unfilled, in Singapore, the tangyuan are typically served in a sweet soup that is simply flavoured with rock sugar, ginger and pandan leaves. Savoury tangyuan are often served in a savoury broth, a version that is made by some Peranakans, and Hakka and Taishan Chinese. (Maybe others too, but this was all I could find in my research.)

Found some old photos (dated September 2009) of the tangyuan that some friends and I made while living in Sydney.

Also tried my hand at making
jiuniang tangyuan (September 2009)

When I lived in Sydney (years ago), I had the pleasure of making tangyuan on my own, as well as with some fellow Singaporean and Malaysian friends when we felt like a taste of home. We made it a few times, most of the time with black sesame filling (which I also handmade, but with butter instead of lard). On my own I also made guihua jiuniang tangyuan桂花酒酿汤圆, because I really like jiuniang酒酿, but it is not as commonly available in Singapore. Back then in Sydney, I managed to get my paws on a nice jar of jiuniang totally by chance, while grocery shopping in the local Chinatown. This was, like, over 10 years ago and since it can be homemade, I'm thinking it might be one of the things to try once my apartment is ready and I can finally move in.

Fermented rice wine is pretty common in the East Asian cultural sphere, e.g. besides Chinese jiuniang, there is also, among others, Japanese amazake甘酒 and Korean gamju감주. Often served with dried osmanthus and unfilled tangyuan, jiuniang is delicious. Although its appearance may be off-putting to those who are unfamiliar with it. Some have a disgusting and culturally insensitive way of describing such unfamiliar foods, even when they fall in love with it.

Anyway, these tangyuan amigurumi are frightfully easy to make. In fact, they are almost the same as the ondeh ondeh amigurumi that I began this kueh amigurumi project with; they're crocheted spheres, in different sizes. I did include some changes to the pattern, largely for the half-eaten tangyuan, as I wanted to recreate the look of the filling pooling out of the tangyuan skin.

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi, with peanut filling (IG post).

For this CNY tangyuan amigurumi, I went with peanut filling. As with many CNY staples, peanuts have double auspicious meanings. Its Chinese name huā shēng花生 can be taken to mean "blossoming life/growth" as the same characters 花 means "blossom" (or "flower" or "bloom") and 生 means "life", or to mean "blossoming rise/ascent" as 生 also has the same pronunciation as 升 which means "rise" or "ascend". As such, peanuts symbolise longevity, health, vitality, prosperity, continuous growth or good fortune. Since the tangyuan is a kind of sticky cake (like nian gao, the symbolism of which has been explained in the nian gao amigurumi post), filling it with peanuts would be doubly auspicious! Heavens knows we'll need a lot of health, vitality and good fortune as we continue to navigate the challenges of the Year of the Tiger, and onward to a post-COVID-19 normal.

TANGYUAN (KUEH EE) AMIGURUMI CROCHET PATTERN

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post).

Materials & Tools:
• Yarn in white, bright pink or red, golden brown (peanut filling), dark grey or black (sesame filling)
• 2mm and 2.5mm crochet hook
• Stuffing
• Stitch markers
• Scissors
• Yarn needle
• 4 - 4.5mm and 6 - 7mm safety eyes (optional)
• Embroidery thread (optional)

For the tangyuan amigurumi I made, I used Scheepjes Catona No.106 Snow White, No.222 Tulip, No.114 Shocking Pink, No.179 Topaz, Sirdar Happy Cotton DK No.799 Fizz, DMC 25 mouliné No.3371 (dark brown).

Abbreviations (US Terms):
R : round / row (as the case may be)
MR : magic ring
st(s) : stitch(es)
ch : chain
sl st : slip stitch
sc : single crochet
hdc : half double crochet
dc : double crochet
inc : increase
dec : decrease / invisible decrease
sl2tog : slip stitch 2 stitches together (i.e. slip stitch decrease)
hdc2tog : half double crochet 2 stitches together (i.e. half double crochet decrease)
dc2tog : double crochet 2 stitches together (i.e. double crochet decrease)
(...) : a set of pattern instructions
[...] : total number of stitches in round/row

Finished Size:
Small tangyuan: approx. 2cm × 1.8cm
Large tangyuan: approx. 3.5cm × 3cm
Half-eaten tangyuan: approx. 4cm × 5.4cm × 2.8cm

Pattern Notes & Preparation:
• Invisible decrease: see this tutorial by All About Ami.
• Slip stitch 2 stitches together (sl2tog): see this video tutorial by Garnstudio DROPS Design or this video tutorial (slightly different method) by Stone Gnome Design.
• Half double crochet 2 stitches together (hdc2tog): see this video tutorial by Wool & the Gang.
• Double crochet 2 stitches together (dc2tog): see this tutorial by We Crochet.
• For tips on amigurumi face embroidery:
◦ Amigurumi face embroidery tutorial by Tiny Curl;
◦ How to embroider amigurumi faces by Critter Crochet;
>◦ Best amigurumi tips and tricks for doll faces by The Friendly Red Fox;
◦ How to embroider on amigurumi by Hobium Yarns.

SMALL TANGYUAN

Using a 2mm hook and white / bright pink yarn, work in rounds,
R1. MR, 6 sc. [6]
R2. 6 inc. [12]
R3. (1 sc, inc) 6 times. [18]
R4-6 (3 rounds). 18 sc. [18]
R7. (1 sc, dec) 6 times. [12]
If adding safety eyes (4 - 4.5mm), insert them between R4 and R5, about 3 sts apart.
Stuff before continuing.
R8. 6 dec. [6]
Finish stuffing. Fasten off and leave a short tail.
Weave the yarn tail through the front loops of the last 6 sts, and pull to close the work. Pass the yarn tail through the centre and pull through to the other side of the work to hide the tail inside the work.

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post).

LARGE TANGYUAN

Using a 2.5mm hook and white / bright pink yarn, work in rounds,
R1. MR, 6 sc. [6]
R2. 6 inc. [12]
R3. (1 sc, inc) 6 times. [18]
R4. (inc, 2 sc) 6 times. [24]
R5. (3 sc, inc) 6 times. [30]
R6-10 (5 rounds). 30 sc. [30]
R11. (3 sc, dec) 6 times. [24]
R12. (2 sc, dec) 6 times. [18]
If adding safety eyes (6 - 7mm), insert them between R6 and R7 (or R7 and R8), about 4 or 5 sts apart.
Stuff before continuing.
R13. (1 sc, dec) repeat 6 times. [12]
R14. 6 dec. [6]

Finish stuffing. Fasten off and leave a short tail.
Weave the yarn tail through the front loops of the last 6 sts, and pull to close the work. Pass the yarn tail through the centre and pull through to the other side of the work to hide the tail inside the work.

HALF-EATEN TANGYUAN

Skin
Using a 2.5mm hook and white / bright pink yarn, work in rounds,
R1. MR, 6 sc. [6]
R2. 6 inc. [12]
R3. (1 sc, inc) 6 times. [18]
R4. (inc, 2 sc) 6 times. [24]
R5. (3 sc, inc) 6 times. [30]
R6-10 (5 rounds). 30 sc. [30]
R11. (3 sc, dec) 6 times. [24]
*R12. 2 dc, dc2tog, 2 dc, hdc2tog, 1 sc, 1 sl st, sl2tog, 2 sl st, sl2tog, 1 sc, 1 hdc, dc2tog, 2 dc, dc2tog. [18]
Fasten off and weave in end. Do not stuff.

*Note: These steps are actually a variation of (2 sc, dec) 6 times.

Filling
Using a 2,5mm hook and golden brown / dark grey / black yarn, work in rounds,
R1. Ch 6, 1 sc into the 2nd ch from hook, 3 sc, inc in the last ch, then working on the other side of the ch, 1 sc, 3 sc, inc. [12]
R2. Inc, 3 sc, 3 inc, 3 sc, 2 inc. [18]
Fasten off and leave a tail for sewing.

Dribble (optional)
Using the same crochet hook and yarn as the Filling, work in rows
R1. Rejoin working yarn to the front loop* of the 2nd st in R2 of Filling, FLO 5 sc.
R2. Turn, inc, 3 sc, inc. [7]
R3. 7 inc. [14]
R4. (1 sc, inc) 6 times, 1 sc. [19]
R5. (inc, 1 sc) 9 times, inc. [28]
Fasten off and weave in tail.
Flatten the piece and block if needed.

*Note: The back loops will be used when attaching the Filling to the Skin in Step 3 below.

To Complete

1. If adding safety eyes, insert them between R8 and R9 (or R9 and R10), about 4 or 5 sts apart. Alternatively, use embroidery thread to stitch on the amigurumi face. See the pictures for reference.
2. Match up the Filling to the Skin, with the Dribble aligned with the dc sts of R12 of the Skin. Pin in place.
3. Attach the Filling to the Skin by whip stitching through the back loops of the Filling and front loops of the Skin. Stuff the work before closing completely. Stuff lightly as the work should be slightly flat.
4. Secure and hide the end inside the work.

And they're done!

Chinese New Year special: tangyuan (kueh ee) amigurumi for Chap Goh Mei (IG post).

Thank you for coming along on this Chinese New Year special for my kueh amigurumi project. After this post, I will be taking a short break from this project because I need to give my hands some rest, and also to turn my attention to other projects. Sadly, these other projects are time-sensitive and some of them have been left to languish for a little too long. But I will be back with more kueh amigurumi at some point...there are a lot of kueh out there that serve as great inspiration. Thank you for coming along on this kueh amigurumi exploration journey. It has been a great pleasure to share the amigurumi and a little bit about the culture and heritage of my country. I hope it has also been fun and interesting for you.

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Thank you for stopping by. I hope you have fun making these tangyuan. As with all my other patterns, I would love to see how your finished items turned out, so please tag me with my Instagram handle @yotsuba_blythes.

While I'm happy to share my pattern without charge and would be delighted to see it being used, please note that my pattern is for personal use only. Please respect my legal and moral rights as the author with respect to this pattern and all the images herein. This pattern and images are not for commercial use, sale or distribution. The sale of this pattern or any of the images is not permitted without my prior written consent. If you wish to share this pattern, please link to this post and my Instagram profile @yotsuba_blythes. You are welcome to sell limited quantities of the finished items you have made from this pattern.