Chinese PastryDessert

Mugwort Green Dumplings — No Browning, No Collapsing, Soft on Day Three

Name: Mugwort Green Dumplings
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: about 18
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 4¼ oz (120 g) fresh mugwort leaves; ½ tsp (3 g) baking soda; ¾ cup (180 ml) water; 4¼ cups (500 g) glutinous rice flour; ¾ cup + 2 tbsp (100 g) wheat starch; ¼ cup (50 g) sugar; ¼ cup + 2 tsp (60 g) butter; 20–25 salted egg yolks; 7 oz (200 g) pork floss; ⅔ cup (160 g) mayonnaise; a splash of rice wine

2026-03-17

By Vivian

The recipe I've used for six years — no browning, no collapsing, still soft on day three

Why You'll Love It

With Qingming coming, it's green dumpling season again. March and April are exactly when you eat mugwort, and it looks like a lot of people are getting ready to make them. My mom picked a lot of mugwort recently, and I couldn't resist making some too.

Sharing the recipe I've used for six years: they don't collapse when steamed, the color stays green instead of going dark, and at room temperature they stay soft for 3 days without hardening — even better reheated. Paired with a salted egg yolk and pork floss filling that runs with oil, savory and deeply flavorful. One bite and you're gone.

Mugwort gives them a clean herbal aroma that's really good, and the salted egg yolk and pork floss filling, rich with oil, is a savory filling you can't help loving. Adjust the filling however you like.

Ingredients

Wrapper
4¼ oz (120 g) fresh mugwort leaves	½ tsp (3 g) baking soda
¾ cup (180 ml) water	4¼ cups (500 g) glutinous rice flour
¾ cup + 2 tbsp (100 g) wheat starch	¼ cup (50 g) sugar
¼ cup + 2 tsp (60 g) butter

Salted Egg Yolk & Pork Floss Filling
20–25 salted egg yolks	7 oz (200 g) pork floss
⅔ cup (160 g) mayonnaise	a splash of rice wine

Ingredient Notes

Take only the young mugwort leaves; old stems taste bitter.
Add ½ tsp (3 g) baking soda to the blanching water, and the dumplings stay green instead of yellowing.
The wheat starch makes the wrapper translucent and less likely to collapse — don't use all glutinous flour.
Spritz the yolks with rice wine before baking to remove any fishiness.
Use sweet mayonnaise. The yolks are already salty, so no extra salt.

Instructions

1

Pick over the mugwort carefully, removing yellowed leaves and tough stems, keeping only the tender leaves, and rinse them well in several changes of water. Bring a pot of water to a boil, stir in ½ tsp (3 g) baking soda to hold the color, and blanch the mugwort 3 minutes. Take it out and plunge it straight into cold water, then squeeze out the excess water.
2

Put the squeezed mugwort in a blender with ¾ cup (180 ml) water and blend to a fine purée. In a large bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, wheat starch, and sugar, then pour the purée in slowly while stirring.
3

Pour in the butter, melted to a liquid, and knead while still hot into a smooth dough that doesn't stick. If it's dry add a little more purée; if wet, a little more flour. Rest it 5 minutes, then divide into pieces of about 1.4 oz (40 g) and keep them covered so they don't dry out.
4

Separate the yolks from the whites, rinse them clean, lay them on a baking tray, and spritz with a little rice wine. Bake in an oven preheated to 325°F (160°C) for 13 minutes.
5

Take them out once they just start to release oil and smell rich. Let them cool, crush them to a coarse meal, and add the pork floss and mayonnaise.
6

Mix it all by hand and squeeze into firm little balls of about 0.9 oz (25 g) each.
Take a piece of wrapper dough, flatten it into a thin round in your palm, put a ball of filling in the middle, and gather the dough up around it with your thumb and fingers, turning as you go, so it seals tight and doesn't leak. Then roll it into a smooth ball.
7

Bring the steamer water to a boil. The dumplings must sit on parchment so they don't stick. Arrange them with space between and steam over high heat 15 minutes, then take them straight out.
8

The color holds beautifully through steaming.
9

Freshly steamed they're glossy green and very tempting, with herbal mugwort aroma mixed with savory pork floss. One bite is full of filling, fresh but not greasy. For a taste of the season, this is the one to make.
10

Once they're cool enough to handle, brush a thin layer of corn oil on the surface to slow down drying, then wrap each one in plastic wrap to hold the soft, chewy texture.
11

Quick tip: wrap leftovers individually and freeze them. Re-steam straight from frozen — no need to thaw.

Recipe Notes