Yuanxiao (元宵, yuán xiāo)

Next on our list of Spring Festival foods, yuanxiao (or tangyuan) (湯圓, tāng yuán) are balls of glutinous rice flour (糯米粉, nuò mǐ fěn) cooked and served in a light sugar syrup. They may be large or small, filled (有餡兒的, yǒu xiàn ér de) (with sesame, peanuts or red bean paste)(芝麻、花生或紅豆沙, zhī ma、 huā shēng huò hóng dòu shā) or unfilled. Yuanxiao literally means "first evening (第一個夜晚, dì yī ge yè wǎn)," referring to the first full moon (第一個月圓之夜, dì yī ge yuè yuán zhī yè) after Chinese New Year (春節(jié), chūn jié), when Lantern Festival (元宵節(jié), yuán xiāo jié) is held.