Huqiu Green Rice Dumplings

Huqiu Green Rice Dumplings

　　Green rice dumplings are made from glutinous rice flour mixed with vegetable juice and stuffed with white sugar, red bean paste, and lard. Their color and taste both evoke the essence of spring. Suzhou has had all kinds of seasonal cakes and dumplings throughout the year, and that tradition continues to this day.

Yuanxiao in January, waist-supporting cake on the second day of February, green rice dumplings in March, immortal cake on the fourteenth of April, fried meat-stuffed dumplings in May, thanksgiving cake on the twenty-fourth of June, cowpea cake in July, sticky rice dumplings in August, Double Ninth Festival cake on the ninth of September, radish dumplings in October, winter solstice dumplings in November, and osmanthus-laced glutinous rice cake with lard and sugar in December.

This rhyme was something I heard from my grandmother back in the day. Having actually eaten all these treats season by season, I’ve remembered it ever since. Suzhou’s lush waters and fertile soil have given rise to a distinctive rice-based culture rich in Jiangnan character. The soft and sweet Wu dialect has also inspired the creation of Suzhou’s fragrant, sweet, and tender rice cakes.