Mugwort Rice Cakes

Mugwort Rice Cakes

　　Mugwort rice cakes, also known as Qingming rice cakes, are typically made from mugwort harvested around the Qingming Festival when the herb just begins to sprout. They are one of the foods used to honor ancestors during the festival in Rongshui and are also a unique local snack. These bright green, plump, and round cakes exude the distinctive fragrance of mugwort along with the natural sticky sweetness of glutinous rice, enhanced by sweet fillings of peanuts and sesame that make your mouth water.

　　Ingredients: Field mugwort (Qingming herb), red bean paste, glutinous rice flour

　　Preparation Method:

　　Step 1: Boil the mugwort

　　Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a small amount of alkaline, and put in the washed mugwort. Do not cover the pot, maintain a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, and stir the mugwort occasionally with chopsticks to ensure even heating. Cook until the leaves turn a deep green and the stems are soft enough to break with a pinch. Turn off the heat once done. Covering the pot during cooking will cause the mugwort to turn yellow and lose its vibrant color. The alkaline helps remove the bitterness of the mugwort.

　　Step 2: Soak the boiled mugwort

　　Remove the boiled mugwort and soak it in cold water to rinse off the bitterness. Soak for about 12 hours, changing the water two or three times during this period to allow the bitterness to fully dissipate.

　　Step 3: Chop

　　After soaking, take out the mugwort, squeeze out the water, and chop it finely — until there are hardly any stems left. This ensures a smooth texture when eating, so you won’t bite into bits of stem.

　　Step 4: Stir-fry

　　Put the chopped mugwort into a clean pan and stir-fry over medium heat for a while until you can smell its aroma. You may also add a little salad oil; this step helps enhance the fragrance.

　　Step 5: Make the dough

　　Add glutinous rice flour and sugar to the stir-fried mugwort, then pour in freshly boiled water. Stir thoroughly with chopsticks first while pouring, then wait for the temperature to cool down before kneading by hand into a mugwort dough. It’s essential to use very hot water to activate the stickiness of the glutinous rice flour, making it easier to form a cohesive dough and easier to wrap the filling. This also improves the final appearance and texture. Don’t add too much sugar — the dough should have only a slight sweetness, as the filling is already sweet. Too much sugar will make it overly cloying.

　　Step 6: Wrap

　　Take a small piece of the prepared dough, shape it into a small bowl-like form, place it in the palm of your hand, add the filling, seal the edges, and roll it into a ball. Then slightly flatten it, apply a bit of oil to the bottom, and place it on a piece of pomelo leaf. You can also apply oil to your palm before wrapping. Mugwort rice dough is not as stretchy as wheat dough, so you’ll need to press, mold, and shape it with your fingers rather than kneading it in your palm — otherwise, it may fall apart and leak filling.

　　Step 7: Steam

　　Once wrapped, place them in a steamer over cold water. They’re ready to eat about 30 minutes after the water boils.