Every year during spring, Shanghainese people brave long queues to get their hands on a special green snack that is steeped in history and tradition

It is 10 pm, and the shops along Nanjing Road West are about to close for the day, with the exception of the kitchen in Wang JiaSha, located in a five-story glass and steel building in the middle of Shanghai's famous shopping street.

Here, a handful of white-robed pastry chefs have just started their overnight shift. But Wang JiaSha is not a supper joint, and it will not be serving any customers through the night.

Rather, the chefs will work tirelessly for eight hours, making qingtuan, or green rice balls, till daybreak. This special shift takes place every day for two weeks until Qingming Festival on April 4.

The chefs do not talk to one another. Everyone is incredibly focused on what is in their nimble hands - a palm-sized piece of olive green dough that they use to wrap around a dollop of red bean paste.

"I apologize if there isn't anyone who can help answer your questions. The chefs here are paid according to the number of rice balls they make," says Liu Chongliang, general manager of the 71-year-old restaurant and snack shop, Wang JiaSha.

The traditional snack is an important element in the annual Qingming Festival (Tomb-sweeping Festival) when people visit the graves of their ancestors and family members.

The tradition of eating green rice balls on this occasion dates back thousands of years in southern China when people deemed it as a form of tribute to their ancestors.

The grave would be tidied before the rice balls were presented together with some dishes as well as wine and fruit.

Typical fare

Founded in 1945 by Yao Zichu, a former advertising executive, Wang JiaSha started as an eatery offering typical Shanghai snacks like xiao long bao (dumplings), shrimp-filled wontons and steamed sticky rice topped with "eight treasures" that comprises different types of dried plums and nuts.

It was not until the 1990s that Wang JiaSha added the green rice ball to its menu that had already spanned 300 types of snacks and pastries. Named after a small neighborhood in the same area it was in, Wang JiaSha today has seven outlets in Shanghai and five in Hong Kong.

According to Liu, an average of 50,000 rice balls, priced at 4 yuan ($0.6) a piece, are sold every day at Wang JiaSha before the peak period that falls in the week of Qingming. Sales numbers often triple during the peak.

Liu expects to sell up to 2.4 million balls this year, a 10 percent increase from last year.

"When you can have tomatoes and celery all year round, it is only natural that people flock toward something that is seasonal," says Liu.

Indeed, it is only during this two-month period every year that the most authentic and best-tasting green rice balls are made.

Apart from sticky rice and red bean paste, the most important ingredient used is the mugwort, an aromatic herb that has been used to treat asthma, inflammation and viral infections.

The leaves and buds of the mugwort plant, which are best picked right after the arrival of spring, are smashed and turned into juice that is used to give the rice balls their distinctive color.

While the rice ball filled with sweet red bean paste is the most traditional and popular one, other types have emerged over the years and people can now also buy alternatives filled with Chinese herbs and tofu, salted egg yolk as well as sesame.

Intangible Cultural Heritage

In 2015, the skill of making the snack was listed as one of the 41 new Shanghai Intangible Cultural Heritage by the municipal government, alongside other crafts such as paper cutting and comic painting.

But Liu, a former pastry chef, says that making the perfect rice ball requires little skill. Instead, it is all about finding the right ingredient - wild mugwort. At Wang JiaSha, the chefs only use wild mugwort from Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

In contrast, many food factories and snack shops use a powdered form of the plant instead.

This practice is believed to have originated in northern China because the low rainfall in that region during the start of spring means that the plant is not "juicy" enough for use.

Further, using the powder speeds up the process and in turn results in the products having a longer shelf life.

"We are one of the few that use fresh mugwort to make the rice ball. The unique aroma it provides is what makes customers come back for more," says Liu.

When the restaurant opens at 7 am, the queue to buy rice balls at Wang JiaSha usually measures more than 100 meters. In line are people of all ages, and Liu notes that the rice ball has in recent times grown in popularity among the younger generation.

One of those in the queue is a 56-year-old Shanghainese woman surnamed Zhao, who says she is buying the rice balls for her son and not as offerings for Qingming Festival.

"This restaurant is my son's favorite when it comes to this snack. Our ancestors aren't picky like my son - they will make do with those from the supermarkets or other shops.

Besides, they can buy whatever they want with the hell money we burn for them," says Zhao.

The most popular greens in spring

The reemergence of flora and fauna in spring provides chefs with countless ingredients that serve to inspire them to flex their creative muscles and create new culinary masterpieces to attract diners. There are many seasonal plants in East China that chefs like to use in their creations, and here are some of the most popular ones you might find on menus this spring.

Toon sprouts (xiang chun)

While everyone living on the southern and northern banks of the Yangtze River loves eating toon sprouts during spring, opinion of this vegetable is somewhat divided outside these regions as some have said that it reeks of a pungent durian smell. One of the most popular dishes featuring this vegetable is an omelet served with toon sprouts and shrimps, and it is considered by some as the Chinese equivalent of scrambled eggs with truffles that is served at Western diners.

Kalimeris Indica (ma lan tou)

This sprout is to the people of East China what a xiao long bao is to Shanghai residents. Compared wtih the toon sprout, this vegetable has a much lighter and refreshing aroma, which explains why it is more popular among people, including those who prefer eating meats over greens. Housewives often shred this vegetable into flake-like pieces that are used as dumpling fillings.

Bamboo shoots

The quintessential Shanghainese way of enjoying this would be to use it with salted ham and bean curd knots to create yan du xian soup. The bamboo shoots are an essential ingredient as they provide a tantalizing contrast to the soft texture of the ham and the beancurd. For those born and bred in Shanghai, this soup is a must-have dish during spring.

xujunqian@chinadaily.com.cn

Green rice balls are available all year round, but demand spikes a few weeks ahead of the annual Qingming Festival. Photos By Gao Erqiang / China Daily

From left: Kalimeris Indica; toon sprouts; bamboo shoots Photos Provided To China Daily

(China Daily USA 04/21/2016 page10)