The sweet Chinese dumpling that honours the dead

As the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, approaches each spring in China, a special delicacy called qingtuan emerges in supermarkets and bakeries nationwide. This sweet, jade-colored treat holds significance in honoring the deceased during this time. While cherished, many traditional Chinese dishes are only enjoyed on specific occasions, marking holidays or seasonal observances.

Lillian Luk, founder of the London pop-up Shanghai Supper Club and a Shanghai native, emphasizes the significance of honoring ancestors throughout life in Chinese culture. During the Qingming Festival, observed on April 4th each year, people across China pay respects to their deceased loved ones by visiting their graves, performing rituals such as sweeping the graves, burning incense, and making offerings.

Despite the widespread practice of tomb sweeping today, Luk recalls that in her upbringing, she did not travel to her ancestors' graves. She attributes this to the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution in China, during which many traditional customs were discouraged. Additionally, logistical and financial constraints made domestic travel challenging for most people at that time. Instead, Luk's family honored their ancestors at home through rituals like lighting incense, offering well wishes, and preparing traditional foods such as qingtuan.

These green dumplings, now popular nationwide, originated from the coastal Jiangnan region in eastern China, encompassing areas like Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang provinces. This region, known for its abundant rice plantations, has a rich tradition of rice-based delicacies such as ci fan tuan (sticky rice wrapped around fried dough) and nuo mi ou (lotus root stuffed with sticky rice).

Qingtuan dough, crafted from glutinous rice flour, obtains its distinctive emerald-green hue from mugwort, a fragrant herb abundant in spring. This herb not only imparts a grassy aroma but also offers potential medicinal benefits, including lowering blood pressure, as noted by Luk, who now prepares and sells these vibrant treats at her pop-up restaurant during the Qingming Festival.

Qingtuan holds a practical advantage as it can be prepared in advance and stored at room temperature, a feature that was historically significant. In China, many rituals associated with Tomb Sweeping Day originated from the Hanshi Festival, also known as Cold Food Day, which was another occasion for commemorating ancestors. During this festival, the prohibition of lighting fires for cooking led people to consume foods that did not require heating, making qingtuan a fitting choice. Over time, this dish became closely intertwined with traditions of honoring the deceased.

In recent years, Lillian Luk has observed qingtuan evolving, with various innovative versions emerging, such as dumplings colored green with matcha instead of mugwort, or filled with custard or sweet potato. While Luk appreciates these unexpected flavor combinations, particularly for engaging younger generations in traditional customs, she remains nostalgic for the classic variety filled with creamy red bean paste that she grew up eating. She emphasizes the importance of honoring traditions and believes there is merit in preserving the simplicity of longstanding practices.

Introducing Shanghai's Culinary Traditions Through Qingtuan

Lillian Luk sees sharing qingtuan as an opportunity to introduce Londoners to a lesser-known holiday custom while also promoting Shanghainese cuisine, which often takes a back seat to more recognized regional styles like Sichuan or Cantonese outside of China.

Unexpectedly, her pop-up restaurant has also connected her children to their cultural heritage through food. Luk finds joy in witnessing her children's excitement and curiosity about their culinary roots, inadvertently weaving a thread that ties them to their heritage. The fact that qingtuan is a once-a-year treat only adds to her children's appreciation for the dish.