Qingtuan

Ingredients

• 170g tender mugwort leaves, or young wheatgrass shoots
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 120ml water, for blending
• 45g wheat starch
• 120ml boiling water
• 250g glutinous rice flour
• 50g icing sugar
• 1 tbsp lard or unsalted butter, softened
• 375g sweet red bean paste
• 1 tsp neutral oil, for brushing

Before you cook

• Pick over the mugwort, discarding any tough stems, and wash the leaves thoroughly.
• Divide the red bean paste into fifteen balls of about 25g each and chill them.
• Cut fifteen small squares of baking paper.

Steps

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the bicarbonate of soda and the salt, and drop in the mugwort leaves.
2. Blanch the leaves for thirty seconds only, until they turn a vivid green.
3. Scoop the leaves straight into iced water and leave them for two minutes.
4. Squeeze the leaves gently, then blend them with the 120ml of water until you have a smooth, bright puree.
5. Put the wheat starch in a bowl and pour over the boiling water, stirring quickly with chopsticks until it forms a translucent paste.
6. Combine the glutinous rice flour, icing sugar and lard in a large bowl.
7. Pour in 270g of the mugwort puree and mix until the dough comes together.
8. Add the wheat starch paste and knead for five minutes, until the dough is smooth, glossy and evenly green.
9. Divide the dough into fifteen pieces of about 50g and keep them covered.
10. Flatten a piece into a disc, cup it in your palm, sit a ball of bean paste in the middle and push the dough up around it.
11. Pinch the top closed, roll the ball smooth between your palms and set it on a square of baking paper.
12. Shape the remaining fourteen the same way and arrange them in a steamer, leaving 3cm between them.
13. Steam over a hard boil for exactly ten minutes; any longer and the dough will slump.
14. Brush each one with a film of oil the moment it comes out, which stops it drying and gives it its shine.
15. Let them cool for fifteen minutes before eating, as the filling holds its heat.