Rice dumplings are a traditional food to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Apart from the common savory rice dumplings, there is a sweet version popular in southern China called kansui-zong (鹼水粽) or lye dumplings (kee-chang 鹼粽 in Taiwan). They usually don’t have any fillings but are enjoyed dipping or sprinkled with cane sugar, thus are also known as sweet dumplings.
Lye is an alkaline liquor leached from wood ashes, typically used in making soap or preserving food. In our story here however, it is leached from orchard ashes — best kept secret from the local Hakka traditions — for making kansui-zong or ash-water rice dumplings (灰水粽)….