Shaxi town is littered with stores selling snacks. From cakes and puddings to glutinous rice balls, all kinds of traditional types of desserts can be found there.

A Si Ma is one such place that is famous for its green glutinous rice balls. The store's name is derived from its owner Zhang Yuejuan being the fourth child in her family (four is pronounced si in Chinese).

Zhang started making the rice balls at the age of 13. After more than 50 years of perfecting the craft, she still uses the same old recipe to make the snack.

The ingredients include juice of a grass called Bromus japonicus Thunb, glutinous rice of the year and home-made bean paste. The juice is added into the dough made of glutinous rice to deliver a natural fragrance. And the bean paste is used as the stuffing.

The steamed green rice ball has a glazy sheen. The taste is light and the texture is smooth and soft.

From late March to mid-April, around Qingming Festival, the rice balls are in hot demand. Sometimes the store sells 2,000 of them in a single day.

By Liu Sitong and edited by Jacob Hooson

The freshly steamed green glutinous rice balls have a glazy sheen. [Photo from Taicangdaily.com]