Tang Yuan (汤圆) is the sticky glutinous rice ball cooked in sweet-flavoured pandan water. These rice balls are symbolic of completion, happiness and fulfillment and that’s why it is also served in certain festive seasons in the Chinese Community. However, this Tang Yuan is only available during special occasion. Therefore it is not easy to get this dish on normal days.
However, if you do not wish to wait to savour this dessert only on special occasions, there is a stall at town area that sells this dessert 5 days a week. The name of this stall is Tang Yen (甜汤圆) and it is located just opposite of Traders Hotel at Jalan Magazine.
Tang Yen stall, has been selling Tang Yuan for many years and the glutinous rice balls are prepared as per order. Therefore, the taste of it is very fresh and chewy. In fact, there are 2 types glutinous rice ball for you to choose – small sized or big sized. For big-sized, there are 2 types of filling, you can opt for either black sesame or peanut. As for the soup, there are 2 types as well, the gingered brown syrup and the plain syrup. Price ranged from RM2.00 – small, RM3.00, RM4.00/ RM5.00 – large.
The soup of gingered brown syrup is as pictured below. The soup is cooked with ginger, brown sugar and some pandan leaves for fragrance. The smell of the ginger is very strong. You could smell it even from far.
Besides the ginger brown soup, the other soup is the plain syrup which is cooked with sugar and pandan leaves. The smell is not as strong as the ginger brown soup and the taste is more plain. However, I prefer this soup over the gingered one due to its simplicity in taste and it doesn’t contain the spiciness of the ginger.
The filling with black sesame. It is not too sweet and is full of sesame aroma. This filling is prepared for those who are health-concerned as the carbohydrate content is not as high as peanut’s.
As for the peanut filling, the peanuts were chopped till fine and it tasted rich and delicious. I prefer this peanut filling even though it is not as healthy as black sesame filling.
Overall, the stall here serves a very traditional type of savor and the taste is exactly like home-cooking style. The price of the dish is very reasonable and the portion provided is quite big. However, the drawback is there are not many parking space available around the stall. Sometimes, the hygiene of this place is also a concern. I had once faced the server dipped her finger into the soup when serving.
Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):
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Quick Facts:
| Family Friendly |  |
| Parking |  |
| Pork Free | |
| Alcohol | |
| Credit Card | |
| Smoking | |
| Reservation | |
| Private Room | |
| WIFI Available | |
Operation hours: 7:00pm – 12:00am (Close on Wednesday and Sunday)
Contact: 016-477 7764
Address:Magazine Road opposite Traders Hotel, 10050 Georgetown, Penang
GPS: 5° 41′ 30.39″ N, 100° 33′ 06.03″ E
Thanks for posting this! We just drove by this place last night as the lady was setting up and was wondering if it’s good.
Hi aherbivoreinpenang, you are most welcome. I love the tang yuan there too 🙂