Mugwort Sticky Rice Ball (Green Rice Ball, 青团)

This is a traditional food to be consumed around Qingming festival, also known as Chinese Ancestors' Day. The rice ball is tinted green by mugwort. Mugwort is a flowering plant native to northern Europe, Asia, and parts of North America. The sage-colored plant is thought to prevent or treat health conditions like anxiety, digestion problems. The green color and refreshing taste is perfect to celebrate spring time.

Ingredients

Wheat starch (澄粉)- 90g

Boiling water - 150g

Glutinous rice flour (糯米粉) - 300g

Sugar - 45g

Oil - 15g, traditionally used lard

Mugwort Paste (艾草泥) - 270g

Red bean paste - 500g

Steps

1. I picked some Mugwort on a hike, only kept the young leaves, no stems. I collected about 75g worth. 

2.  Add washed Mugwort in a pot of boiling water, add 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, and cook for about 3 min; then soak in cold water for about 5 minutes; after rinse a few times, blend the grass into paste using Vitamix. Add some water if needed. I ended up with about 270g of green paste. 

3. In a small bowl, add 150g boiling water into 90g of wheat starch, mix until paste turns half translucent. Cover and set aside. 

4. In another mixing bowl, mix glutinous rice water with sugar and oil, add green paste, and mix with a chopstick. Finally add the half cooked wheat starch, and knead into a dough. Cover and set aside to rest.

5. Portion the red bean paste into 28g each, and dough into 45g each. Make the rice ball by wrapping filling inside the dough. Steam on high heat for about 10 minutes. 

6. Coat the rice balls with olive oil while they are hot. You can wrap each ball with shrink wrap and it will keep fresh for 3 days in room temperature. Or you can freeze them for up to 1 month.