caozai guo herb rice cake

What it is

A steamed cake made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a cooked paste of herbs, most often Jersey cudweed (鼠麴草) and sometimes mugwort. Flat, green and about the size of a palm, it is usually filled with salty shredded radish and set on a piece of banana or shell-ginger leaf so it does not stick.

Where it comes from

Wikipedia describes it as a food of southern Fujian and Taiwan, made as an offering for the Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Pudu) and when families sweep their ancestors' graves.

How it is made

The herbs are blanched, squeezed dry, chopped and kneaded into the rice dough. The filling is shredded radish that has been salted, pressed and dried, then fried with shallots and seasoned with sugar, soy and white pepper. The wrapped cakes are steamed for about 15 to 20 minutes.

How to eat it

Rice-cake shops sell them in the morning, and popular ones can sell out early. Eat by hand as a snack or breakfast.

In Kaohsiung

Yu Family Chishan Rice Cakes in Fengshan is run by the fourth generation, who make their cakes by hand every day without preservatives or colouring. The city tourism site names the 草仔粿 as their item to buy.