Mugwort rice cakes, Blackvine rice cakes

Mugwort rice cakes, Blackvine rice cakes

　　Mugwort rice cakes, Blackvine rice cakes

　　The third day of the third lunar month, usually before Qingming Festival and sometimes falling exactly on that day. As spring tends to be damp and coincides with the start of spring plowing, farmers make these treats “for both the pleasure of eating and their medicinal benefits in dispelling dampness and relieving fatigue.” They use “mugwort floss” (also called “rat mugwort” or “wild wormwood,” which grows in fields, is dried, and then rubbed into a fluffy form), blackvine (also known as “polygonum multiflorum”), along with glutinous rice flour to make the cakes. Fillings include sugar, butter, peanuts, and shredded coconut. The cakes are shaped into balls or “wrapped triangles” (three-lobed shapes), and these traditions continue to this day.