Hema rolls out 200 tangyuan varieties for festival

Hema Fresh, one of Alibaba’s smart retail market, has rolled out 200 tangyuan varieties for the upcoming Lantern Festival that falls on Feb 15 this year.

As a traditional food in the festival, the glutinous rice balls are called tangyuan in south China, or yuanxiao in the north. Different parts of China make rice balls with different flavors or fillings, symbolizing their unique cuisine cultures.

Meng Di, person in charge of a Hema workshop, said that Hema has introduced new flavors while inheriting traditional flavors this year.

The rich categories have also spurred consumption. Compared with last year, the tangyuan sales have doubled this year.

The new tangyuan balls with tiger stripes, cooked with pickles and in unconventional ways, have delighted customers. 2022 is the year of tiger according to Chinese lunar calendar.

Since the special made rice balls debuted in the market, they’ve been sold out quickly and the stuff kept replenishing the stock.

In Wuhan, Hema cooks put red-bean paste and mochi into tangyuan, making the soft and creamy rice balls popular among youngsters. To cater to the romantic air for Valentine's Day that falls right before the Lantern Festival and, tangyuan with edible rose fillings appeared in Shenzhen.

In addition to the new flavors favored by young consumers, Hema has also brought traditional delicacies to the whole country. Fried tangyuan with pickles is a traditional cuisine of the Miao villages in Guizhou province.

Tangyuan was deep fried in the oil first and then stirred with pickled cabbage. The crispy glutinous rice balls taste salty and spicy outside.

In north China, the method of making yuanxiao is much more complex tangyuan. In Xi 'an, yuanxiao can be fried and rolled in a machine on the site, which became a hit in the market.  

In Beijing, Hema cooperated with a time-honored brand shop which gained intangible cultural heritage title, to make yuanxiao powder through a traditional stone mill process. At the same time, some fillings favored by the north were introduced.

“The vast geographical nature of China has given rise to different eating habits. As many as 200 kinds of tangyuan were sold, and Hema workshop has developed over 30 kinds, which can basically meet the needs of customers around China,” said Meng.

Online sources; Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi