Happy Tomb Sweeping

and some good news ;)

Happy Tomb Sweeping Day (April 5th) for those who celebrate. Also known as the Qing Ming Festival, it’s an annual holiday where families in the Chinese-speaking world go and pay respects to their ancestors and clean up the gravesite.

I wrote about the holiday and its food traditions for the New York Times along with three tested and amazing recipes from my sources (siu yuk from Hong Kong, chicken rice from Malaysia, and sweet and sour fish from Taiwan).

And because I was feeling extra ambitious, the other week, I went down south to Tainan with my cookbook co-author Ivy Chen for some off-the-cuff research about southern Taiwanese Tomb Sweeping traditions. Traditionally, food is offered to the ancestors and then reheated and eaten at home. In the north of Taiwan, cudweed rice dumplings are the offering of choice. In the south, it’s spring rolls, aka runbing 潤餅 (though not the golden, deep-fried variations you’re probably thinking of).

A family friend of mine who also happens to be a Taiwanese language professor (Hsieh Hui-Chu 謝惠珠) made me a very traditional rendition with whole steamed shrimp, eggplant, oil noodles, cabbage, egg, bean curd, shredded chicken, pork belly, peanut powder, and a very generous dusting of white sugar. Many of these ingredients are mired in symbolism. The noodles symbolize long life. The shrimp is a homophone for laughter. It’s also meant to be extremely sweet; sugar was considered a luxury item and many people that I know down south use sugar as the only seasoning.

The next day, I met Ivy’s niece Li Yu-Hsuan 李鈺萱 and Li’s mother-in-law Teng I-Chuan 鄧以禎 (whose family is from Hunan). They made a lovely rendition with garlic-fried fava beans, smoked bean curd, and even a smidge of furu, which I adored. Everything was cooked with a kiss of salt, which — honestly — I appreciated.

These spring rolls came to Taiwan with the first major wave of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, who were mostly from Fujian province of China. In Taiwan, superstition dictates that you’re not supposed to turn on a flame during Qingming (no one really follows this anymore!), and this dish works especially well because the ingredients for these spring rolls can be made well in advance.

Teng, whose family immigrated over from Hunan in the 1950s, grew up in a military village in southern Taiwan and adapted this dish to her tastebuds. She likes pan-frying the finished spring rolls in a shallow layer of oil, which adds a nice textural dimension.

‘Twas a lovely trip where I got to see the sheer range and diversity of spring roll fillings. And yes, I have a recipe and it’s in the cookbook! Our recipe draws from Ivy’s childhood memories and because we are overachievers, we included instructions for how to make the spring roll wrappers from scratch.

Here’s a preview:

SOME NEWS:

My publisher emailed me this morning…to tell me that my cookbook is already going into a SECOND PRINTING. …Which is huge and incredible news for a first-time author. I’m shook. Thank you to everyone here who has pre-ordered. I’m eternally grateful. The book will be available in bookstores everywhere on September 19, 2023.

Lastly, ICYMI, I published a quick travel guide to Taipei for the New York Times. Here’s a gifted article without the paywall. Enjoy!