 Qingtuan, traditional Chinese food of the Qingming festival | |
| Type | Dumpling |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | China |
| Region or state | Jiangnan |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature, cold |
| Main ingredients | Glutinous rice |
| Similar dishes | Kusa mochi, chhau-a-koe |
| Qingtuan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 青糰 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 青团 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | verdant lump | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Qīngtuán (traditional Chinese:青糰;simplified Chinese:青团), also written astsingtuan, is a green-coloreddumpling originating fromJiangnan and common throughoutChina. It is made ofglutinous rice mixed withChinese mugwort orbarley grass. It is usually filled with sweetred orblack bean paste. The exact technique for makingqingtuan is quite complicated and the grass involved is only edible in the early spring, so it is typically only available around the time of theQingming Festival(April 4 or 5), with which the rice cake has become associated. Nowadays,qingtuan sold in mostconvenience stores in China are made of glutinous rice mixed withmatcha. Modern versions use a wider variety of fillings, such asrousong orsalted egg yolk.
Much of theqingtuan consumed in China is prepared and consumed asstreet food from local vendors.[1]
The tradition of eatingqingtuan atQingming Festival evolved from the ancient ChineseCold Food Day (one or two days before Qingming Festival). As the name suggests, observers were unable to heat or cook any food during the festival. Therefore, food such asqingtuan that could be prepared in advance and consumed without heating became associated with the Cold Food Festival. Later, the Cold Food Festival evolved into the Qingming Festival, andqingtuan eaten on the Cold Food Festival became an essential food for the Qingming Festival in eastern and southern China.[2]
In theSong dynasty, it was called "fenduan" and was eaten during tomb sweeping or outing. In the Ming andQing dynasties, it became popular in Jiangsu andZhejiang. Tomb-sweeping Festival was promoted from an ordinary agricultural solar term to a major festival. The influence of cold food gradually disappeared, and the dietary customs have been passed down with some variations, as a part of theQingming Festival. Modern people mainly focus on trying new things according to the festival, and the ancestor worship function of the Youth League has gradually faded.[3]
The main ingredients of traditionalqingtuan are glutinous rice flour, Chinesemugwort orbarley grass, and red or black bean paste. The general steps for makingqingtuan are: The mugwort is first crushed and squeezed out to make the green juice. Then, this juice is mixed with theglutinous rice flour while still hot and kneaded into dough. The dough and bean paste are shaped into balls, then combined and steamed.[4]
The material used to color the green dough is called "green". The green inLinhai City,Zhejiang Province is sage grass. InSuzhou andHangzhou, green vegetable juice and tender loofah leaf juice are generally used to add color. The "green" is cooked and pounded into juice and glutinous rice flour, and together. Linhai Qingtuan's fillings come in two styles: salty and sweet. The salty ones are dried tofu, diced bamboo shoots, diced pork, pickles, etc., while the sweet ones are mostly bean paste. In order to distinguish between the two styles, the salty ones are usually wrapped in Dumpling-shaped, sweet and round. Place Pu leaves as a base and steam in a steamer for 15 minutes.
In recent years, Qingtuan has gained new flavors likesalted egg yolk withpork floss,matcha,custard, black sesame lava,cheese andchocolate.
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