Eat delicious spring food

Xiangchun, or tender leaves of the Chinese mahogany tree. [Photo/WeChat account: hafbwx]

There is plenty of delicious food to eat at this time of year.

The tender leaves of the Chinese mahogany tree (also known as Chinese toon or red toon), or xiangchun, has a very strong and rich aroma that some find hard to accept.

Many locals fry xiangchun with eggs or tofu. Cold appetizer options include tofu and xiangchun salad or lapi (clear potato noodles) with xiangchun. For the latter, the leaves are blanched in boiling water and chopped into fine pieces once cool, then mixed with lapi and dressing.

Qingtuan, or sweet green glutinous rice balls. [Photo/WeChat account: hafbwx]

Qingtuan, a popular spring snack in the Yangtze River Delta, is traditionally stuffed with a red bean filling or dried meat floss. The green glutinous skin is dyed with wormwood juice.

The best time to eat qingtuan is when it's cooled to room temperature after being steamed, which brings out the flavor of the rice balls.