Mugwort Rice Cakes (Tian'ai He)

Tian'ai he is made by kneading mugwort floss from young leaves with glutinous-rice flour into a dark-green skin, then filling it with stir-fried coconut, peanut, dried shrimp, papaya shreds and tangerine peel and steaming it, yielding a chewy skin and fragrant filling where sweet meets savoury.

Making and eating he is the oldest festival custom of western Guangdong; tian'ai he was once made mainly around Qingming, and is now sold year-round, especially as a New Year treat, woven deep into local memory.

Eaten hot from the steamer, the dark-green skin is soft and springy while the filling blends coconut fragrance with the savoury note of dried shrimp, served as a teatime or festive treat.

The dark-green mugwort skin and the sweet-and-savoury filling are the clearest marks of tian'ai he.