Miao She-Fan (Spring-Sacrifice Rice)

Miao she-fan is the ritual rice that the Tujia, Miao and Dong peoples of western Hunan eat at the spring She solar term when they worship the earth god and pray for a good harvest; made chiefly of glutinous and long-grain rice, it is steamed with tender wild mugwort, wild shallot, diced cured pork and green beans, coming out jade-green with the fragrance of grain and wild herbs mingled together.

She-fan began as an offering to the earth god on the spring She day, said to reach back to pre-Qin sacrificial rites, and as the Miao and Tujia ancestors moved south into the western mountains it met the wild mugwort of the highlands, evolving into a Miao festival food that every household still makes around the She solar term.

Steamed to order and served hot in bowls, the gentle bitterness of the wild mugwort plays against the salt of the cured pork, eaten by the whole family on the She day or given to friends, and often found as a seasonal staple in western-Hunan restaurants.

The jade-green wild mugwort, cured pork and glutinous rice steamed together, and behind it the ancient festival meaning of worshipping the earth for a good harvest, are what define she-fan.