Mugwort rice cakes with walnut & black sesame
Traditional Qingming mugwort cakes, fragrant and chewy, filled with toasted walnut and black sesame — eat them warm.
- 50 min
- Serves 4
- Steam
- Medium
Why it suits you: Yang Deficiency means feeling the cold, with chilly hands and feet, and Qingming's drizzle and sudden cool spells make the damp chill hard to shake. Mugwort warms the channels, walnuts support kidney yang and glutinous rice warms the middle — a warming take on the traditional Qingming cake.
Method
Prep 35 min · Cook 15 min- 1Pick the tender mugwort leaves and wash them. Blanch for 2 minutes, refresh in cold water, squeeze dry, then blend with 2 tbsp water to a paste (or chop very finely).
- 2Dry-toast the walnuts and black sesame in a wok over low heat for 4–5 minutes until fragrant, crush them, and mix with the chopped slab sugar for the filling.
- 3Mix the glutinous rice flour with the mugwort paste, then knead in the hot water a little at a time until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Divide into 8.
- 4Roll each piece into a ball, flatten it, add 1 tsp of filling, seal, roll smooth and press lightly. Set on oiled squares of baking paper.
- 5Once the water boils, steam over high heat for 12–15 minutes until glossy and slightly translucent. Eat 1–2 while warm.
Cautions
- Glutinous rice is heavy to digest — have just 1–2, warm. Watching your blood sugar? Count them as your carbohydrate.
- Allergic to tree nuts or sesame? Fill the cakes with red bean paste instead.
Chef's tips
- No fresh mugwort? Use 10 g mugwort powder from a baking supplies shop instead.
- Wrap leftovers individually and freeze; steam for 8 minutes before eating.
The TCM view
Mugwort is pungent, bitter and warm, warming the channels and dispelling cold and damp; walnuts are sweet and warm and support kidney yang; black sesame is sweet and neutral and nourishes the liver and kidneys; glutinous rice and slab sugar are sweet and warm and comfort the stomach. Together they warm without drying — suited to low yang.
