This weekend it’s a holiday in China — The Tomb-Sweeping Festival (or Qingming Jie). And since I’ve caught the flu, I could use a short holiday from writing! So I’m sharing with you some photos from the holiday — specifically, some pictures of the process of making treats for the Tomb-Sweeping Festival. It’s a tradition here with my family in China. (Note – these pics are from 2014, when I actually helped the family make these turnovers.)
Those are qingming turnovers, which my Chinese mother-in-law makes every year for the holiday. They come in two colors — white and green.
What gives the green ones their color? This common plant, called mugwort:
She boils and pulverizes it, and then mixes the plant together with glutinous rice flour:
It’s amazing how a humble little plant can be transformed into the delicious beginnings of a turnover!
Then we roll them out into dough and start the filling process!
Some of them get filled with black bean paste, and are shaped using this lovely mold:
Some get filled with a savory mix of tofu, bamboo and pickled greens:
Either way, they make for a delicious holiday.
Wishing you all a happy Tomb-Sweeping Festival (Qingming Jie)!
