A Tropical, Chewy Lunar New Year Dessert
Earlier this month, the writer and curator Su Wu was at home in Mexico City, making tang yuan with her daughter, Isa, 6. The warm dessert of mochi-like dumplings and sweet broth or syrup is traditionally served on the first full moon of the year, and preparing it together has become a family ritual. 'Tang means 'soup' and yuan means 'round' but also 'unity,'' says Wu, who moved to Mexico from California nine years ago. 'And clear soups on New Year's have this idea of bringing clarity.'
Wu's grandmother, who spent most of her childhood in Taiwan, passed down her recipe, and the dish has changed slightly with each generation. 'My version is reflective of the diaspora of my extended family,' says Wu, 'and of desserts from other places that celebrate Lunar New Year.' Tang yuan dumplings are often stuffed with red bean or black sesame paste. 'But I like to serve it in a way that's more tropical,' says Wu, who looks to the flavors of Vietnamese chè, a collection of desserts that incorporate fruit like lychee and mango, and Singaporean chendol, a sweet iced drink loaded with pandan jelly and coconut milk.
The first step is to form the dumplings, from a combination of glutinous rice flour and boiling water. (Wu adds beet juice to half the dough, turning it pink.) The balls are then boiled until they float, a sign that they're perfectly cooked. This year, Wu's been making the ginger-infused soup base with Chinese slab sugar that her parents left her after a recent visit, and she likes to toss a handful of goji berries into the liquid, to add chewiness. Other additions are optional, but for Wu and her daughter, it's all about components that add a bright fruit flavor or 'Q' texture, as the Taiwanese term the bounciness of mochi and jelly. She opts for grass jelly and sago, and for fruit, papaya. It's both native to Mexico and 'considered a very traditional Southern Chinese soup ingredient,' says Wu, who remembers a recipe for papaya fish-tail soup in a Cantonese cookbook written by her mother.
In April, an exhibition curated by Wu will open at Dallas Contemporary. Titled 'You Stretched Diagonally Across It: Contemporary Tapestry,' the show will feature works by 27 artists from around the world. Looking at textiles made with age-old techniques has shifted Wu's view of other traditions, including culinary ones, she says. 'The thing about traditions is that they are, in so many ways, a fantasy. There's this capacity for us to really highlight what it is about the story that's important to us.'
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Discovery of 300-Year-Old Coins May Prove $17 Billion ‘Richest Wreck in History' Has Been Found
Centuries-old coins have been found by researchers looking into the San José shipwreck, thought to be located in the Colombian Caribbean Sea The wreckage is reportedly worth approximately $17 billion The 150-foot-long Spanish galleon ship was sunk by British warships in 1708Researchers believe they have uncovered coins from a 317-year-old shipwreck, which sank in 1708, containing treasure thought to be valued at approximately $17 billion. On Tuesday, June 10, a study was published in the journal Antiquity, stating that "hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins — known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish — that served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries," were among the key finds amid the ongoing research into the sinking of the Spanish galleon ship, San José. British warships sank the vessel off the coast near the port city of Cartagena. As previously reported by PEOPLE in March 2024, Colombian authorities had decided to move forward with the recovery of the ship, which had a cargo full of treasure. The Times stated that the Colombian navy had identified a wreck that "appeared to be a good candidate" for the sunken ship in 2015, but noted that "its identity has not been conclusively proven." The 150-foot-long, 64-gun, three-masted ship sank with 600 men aboard while carrying 200 tons of silver and emeralds, 11 million gold coins, and porcelain pottery, Colombian Navy divers said in June 2022, according to ABC News. Only 11 individuals survived the incident. Per The Times, the sunken ship is "the richest wreck in history." The latest study, which included photos of some of the coins that had been found, stated that the wreck was situated "at a depth of 600m in the Colombian Caribbean Sea, a location that requires specialized underwater equipment for research." "The exact number of coins visible on the seabed is difficult to determine due to the dynamic nature of the site, but the cobs identified via high-resolution in situ photography conducted by a remotely operated vehicle have an average diameter of 32.5mm and probably weigh around 27g," according to the study. The results added that markings on the coins helped to identify their authenticity. An "L" indicated that they had been mined in Lima, Peru, while the presence of the number 8 represented the denomination in escudos, the highest value at the time. The coins were also marked with the letter "H', which was the mark of Francisco de Hurtado, the Chief Assayer in 1707. The study said that one coin displayed "a small pellet next to the '8', which is a mark of distinction of the cobs of this assayer." While on another, "three letters 'P. V. A.' can be seen marking the motto expression 'Plus Ultra', or 'Further Beyond' in Latin." "This motto was used on the coins as a reference to the expansion of the Spanish monarchy in the Atlantic. Finally, the year of minting is represented by three digits, 707, meaning 1707," the study tated. "The be clearly made out from the images, but on other coins from the same year and mint these bear a reference to King Philip V, the first Bourbon head of the Spanish monarchy," the study continued. "Most of the gold coins from this period come from shipwrecks." Daniela Vargas Ariza, lead researcher from Colombia's Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, said of the findings, 'This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon,' per The Times. The recent study said that over the past decade, "four non-invasive campaigns" had surveyed the wreckage, "providing valuable insights into the age and provenance of artefacts found on the seabed." The study's conclusion added, "This case study highlights the value of coins as key chronological markers in the identification of shipwrecks, particularly those from the Tierra Firme Fleet. The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early eighteenth century. The San José Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics." Spain, the United States, Bolivian indigenous groups and Colombia have all claimed rights to the shipwreck in past years. But in 2011, a U.S. court determined that the ship was the property of the Colombian state, per ABC News. The Times noted that an American salvage company, Sea Search Armada, had also claimed a share, claiming that it had located the wreck. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In 2015, then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos spoke at a news conference regarding the shipwreck's initial rediscovery, telling attendees, "This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity," ABC News reported. Since it was sunk by British warships some 317 years ago, the vessel has been remarkably untouched, officials previously said. The Colombian government didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. Read the original article on People
Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Today in History: Swine flu declared a pandemic
Today is Wednesday, June 11, the 162nd day of 2025. There are 203 days left in the year. Today in history: On June 11, 2009, with swine flu reported in more than 70 nations, the World Health Organization declared the first global flu pandemic in 41 years. Also on this date: In 1509, England's King Henry VIII married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed the Committee of Five (composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman) to draft a declaration of independence from Great Britain, to be completed in the subsequent 17 days. 1955, in motor racing's worst disaster, more than 80 people were killed during the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France when two cars collided and crashed into spectators. In 1962, Frank Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin, prisoners at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, staged an escape, leaving the island on a makeshift raft. They were never found or heard from again. In 1963, Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức lit himself on fire on a Saigon street as a protest against the Vietnamese government's persecution of Buddhists. In 1963, the University of Alabama was desegregated as Vivian Malone and James Hood became the first two Black students allowed to enroll in classes; Alabama segregationist and Gov. George Wallace initially blocked the doorway to the auditorium where course registration was taking place, delivering a speech before deferring to National Guard orders to move. In 1987, Margaret Thatcher became the first British prime minister in over 160 years to win a third consecutive term of office as her Conservative Party held onto a reduced majority in Parliament. In 2001, Timothy McVeigh, 33, was executed by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. Today's Birthdays: Drummer Bernard Purdie is 86. International Motorsports Hall of Famer Jackie Stewart is 86. Actor Roscoe Orman is 81. Actor Adrienne Barbeau is 80. Rock musician Frank Beard (ZZ Top) is 76. Singer Graham Russell (Air Supply) is 75. Football Hall of Famer Joe Montana is 69. Actor Hugh Laurie is 66. TV personality and current Medicare Administrator Mehmet Oz is 65. Actor Peter Dinklage is 56. Actor Joshua Jackson is 47. U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Diana Taurasi is 43. Actor Shia LaBeouf is 39. Basketball Hall of Famer Maya Moore is 36.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Story of Vietnamese orphans who resettled here 50 years ago proves there are greater things than politics
Fifty years ago, near the end of the Vietnam War, as North Vietnamese troops headed south, the director of the Cam Ranh Christian Orphanage, Pastor Nguyen Xuan Ha — known to everyone as Mr. Ha —decided it was time to escape to somewhere safe. Mr. Ha put 85 children and staff on two buses and headed for Saigon where he hoped they could flee to safety. One of the buses was shot at by a North Vietnamese soldier and the buses separated. Somehow they re-united in Saigon. After renting a boat and getting some distance from shore, the engine quit. For five days they drifted before a Thailand tanker approached. The captain refused to help, but later changed his mind, turned around and towed them for a while. After cutting the tow line, a group of fishermen towed them toward Singapore. Soldiers refused to let them ashore. Mr. Ha wrote a name on a piece of paper and asked a soldier if he could locate a missionary named Ralph Neighbour to help. Dr. Neighbour (now 96), newly arrived in Singapore, was miraculously found. He picks up the story from there in an email to me: 'Singapore government kept them out on St. John's Island. Our missionary team took clothes and food out. USA embassy contacted Swiss United Nations Refugee Center. Special flight arrived. Children whisked thru Singapore on bus with windows covered. Government feared losing neutrality during war. No official record they were there.' I knew Dr. Neighbour from when he was a pastor in Houston where I worked at a local TV station. He called and asked if I could help get the orphans and staff to the United States and find temporary housing for them. I contacted some Washington officials I knew and permission for them to enter the country was granted. When they arrived in Houston, a church couple with a large ranch offered them shelter and food until the Buckner Children and Family Services in Dallas could assist with processing and adoptions. I interviewed the youngest, oldest and one in between who made the anniversary trip. Sam Schrade, who was a baby when he was rescued from the streets of Saigon, is 51 and owns a successful media business in Houston. How would his life have been different had he stayed in Vietnam? He says the fact that he is of 'mixed race' (American-Asian) would make it 'doubly hard' because native Vietnamese 'look down upon such people. I have been told by many people I would not have had a good life here because of the race issue and a government that didn't want me.' Kelli St. German, now 56, thinks she might have been growing coffee beans and doing hard labor had she not come to America. She also believes she would not have developed a strong faith because of the state's antipathy toward religion. 'I became a teacher for 30 years.' Thomas Ho, the oldest orphan, now 76, was 25 when he left Vietnam. He helped organize the evacuation and prepared small amounts of food for the children. In America he became a chef and then studied to become an engineer. He says if he had stayed in Vietnam, 'I might not have survived, especially at my age now. Life here is very difficult. A lot of the food is not very healthy.' Reuniting with these adults, many of whom I met when they were children, is a reminder that there are things far greater than politics, celebrities and the petty jealousies that are the focus of too many of us. There are few greater blessings than to have had a role in changing these lives for the better. These former orphans are blessed. So am I. Cal Thomas is a veteran political commentator, columnist and author.
