Qingtuan

Qingtuan

Qingtuan, traditional Chinese food of the Qingming festival
Type	Dumpling
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Jiangnan
Serving temperature	Room temperature, cold
Main ingredients	Glutinous rice
Similar dishes	Kusa mochi, chhau-a-koe
Media: Qingtuan

Qīngtuán (traditional Chinese: 青糰; simplified Chinese: 青团), also written as Tsingtuan, is a green-colored dumpling originating from Jiangnan and common throughout China. It is made of glutinous rice mixed with Chinese mugwort or barley grass. It is usually filled with sweet red or black bean paste. The exact technique for making qingtuan is quite complicated and the grass involved is only edible in the early spring, so it is typically only available around the time of the Qingming Festival (April 4 or 5), with which the rice cake has become associated. Nowadays, qingtuan sold in most convenience stores in China are made of glutinous rice mixed with matcha. Modern versions use a wider variety of fillings, such as rousong or salted egg yolk.

Much of the qingtuan consumed in China is prepared and consumed as street food from local vendors.^[1]