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Hakka caozai guo
Cǎo zǎi guǒ (草仔粿) / ài bǎn (艾粄): green herb rice dumplings filled with savoury dried radish and shiitake
Around Qingming, the spring tomb-sweeping festival, Hakka households across Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli steam trays of these deep-green dumplings to carry to the family graves and share afterwards. The colour and grassy, slightly bitter perfume come from cudweed or mugwort kneaded into glutinous rice dough, and the chewy skin wraps a savoury filling of chopped dried radish and shiitake. The festival version has long been meatless, so this one needs no changes to be vegan. Without a cooked piece of dough kneaded back in, the skin cracks as you shape it; that small step is what makes it supple. Chef's tip: look for frozen mugwort or cudweed purée in Asian grocers; if you can only find fresh mugwort, blanch it with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to keep it bright green.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the filling
- 6 dried shiitake mushroomssoaked in warm water for 30 minutes
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 shallotsfinely sliced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
For the dough
- 10 ½ oz glutinous rice flour
- 3 ½ oz cooked cudweed or mugwort puréefrozen, thawed
- ⅔ oz sugar
- ¾ cup hot waterabout 80 °C, add gradually
- 1 tbsp vegetable oilplus extra for hands and leaves
For steaming
- 12 banana leaf squares or baking paperabout 10 cm, lightly oiled
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Method
0/12 doneStep 1: Soak 5 ½ oz shredded dried radish (cai pu) in cold water for 10 minutes, rinse twice, then squeeze very dry and chop roughly. Taste a piece: it should be pleasantly salty, not harsh.
10 minStep 2: Squeeze 6 dried shiitake mushrooms dry, remove the stems and finely dice the caps.
Step 3: Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok over a medium heat and fry 3 shallots for 3–4 minutes, until golden and crisp at the edges.
4 minStep 4: Add the shiitake and radish and stir-fry for 5–6 minutes, until the radish smells sweet and toasty and the pan looks dry.
6 minStep 5: Season with 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and ½ tsp ground white pepper, toss for 1 minute and spread on a plate to cool completely.
1 minStep 6: For the dough, mix 10 ½ oz glutinous rice flour and ⅔ oz sugar, add 3 ½ oz cooked cudweed or mugwort purée and work it in with your fingertips. Add ¾ cup hot water a little at a time, kneading, until you have a soft, smooth dough like play dough. You may not need all the water.
Step 7: Pinch off a 60 g piece of dough, flatten it and drop it into a pan of boiling water. Cook for 3–4 minutes, until it floats and turns darker green all through.
4 minStep 8: Lift it out, drain briefly and knead it straight back into the main dough together with 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Knead for 3–4 minutes, until it's elastic and no longer cracks at the edges. Divide into 12 balls.
4 minStep 9: Oil your hands. Press a ball into a cup about 8 cm wide, fill with a heaped tablespoon of filling and draw the edges up to seal, then shape into a smooth oval.
Step 10: Set each dumpling on an oiled 12 banana leaf squares or baking paper square and place in a steamer, leaving 2 cm between them. Bring the water to the boil.
Step 11: Steam over a medium heat for 18–20 minutes, until the skins are glossy and slightly translucent. Too fierce a heat makes them slump and spread.
20 minStep 12: Open the lid a crack and let them stand 3 minutes before lifting out, then brush lightly with oil so they don't stick together. Eat warm; leftovers can be re-steamed for 8 minutes.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does hakka caozai guo take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 70 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of dried shiitake mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
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