Nanzhu (sea bilberry)

Vaccinium bracteatum

leaf · infusion

Pounded leaves whose blue-black juice dyes the sticky rice of wufan, steamed in spring in Jiangnan.

Origin

Eastern China (Jiangsu, Zhejiang)

Season (United States)

March to May

Preparation

The leaves are pounded with water and strained, and the rice soaks overnight in the juice before being steamed; the leaves are thrown away.

Did you know?

The rice, white at first, comes out a shiny bluish black, with nothing but the leaf.