Ching Ming

Ching Ming means Pure and Bright. This festival falls 15 days after the Spring Equinox. The Pure Brightness Festival is also called Ancestors Day or Picnic Day, because Chinese families gather today to sweep graves and offer foods, such as steamed pastries and roast pork, tea, and wine to their ancestors. After the ceremony the family feasts on the offering foods.

Agenda today:

1- Make gold ingots (yuan bao):

One tradition is to burn fake money for the deceased to use in the afterlife. This comes in the form of printed paper money and folded gold ingots, called yuan bao. You can buy the paper money at an Asian food store, and also the joss paper for making the yuan bao.

Folding the yuan bao isn't hard. Here is a great video that shows how. My friend and I folded about 20 yuan bao yesterday.

2- Make Red Tortoise Cakes (Ang Ku Kueh):
Grave cakes are one traditional offering at the ancestral tombs. The most common kind of grave cake is Ang Ku Kueh, or Red Tortoise Cakes- these are made with a bright red glutinous rice dough, filled with either a sweet bean or peanut filling, and printed in a mold with the design of a tortoise.

I don't have a tortoise mold so I used my small round mold.  They turned out very well- and were delicious.

Peanut Filling:

I didn't have roasted peanuts, so I roasted them
in a frying pan and removed the skins.

Ingredients:

• 1 c. dry roasted unsalted peanuts
• 1/2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
• 1/2 Tbsp. oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 c. sugar

1- Chop the peanuts coarsely in a blender or food processor- you want some chunks of nut, but also some powder so it will stick together. (I tried using my hand grinder but it wasn't fine enough.)

2- Dry fry the sesame seeds in a wok over low heat until fragrant and slightly brown. 
Remove and crush a bit with a mortar and pestle.

3- Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with your hand
s. Add a bit more water if the mixture seems out too crumbly.

4
- Form small balls and place them on parchment paper . Chill in the refrigerator.

Red Dough:
Ingredients:

• 5/8 c. water
• red food coloring
• 1-1/2 c. glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 c. cooked sweet potato (mashed)
• 2-1/2 Tbsp. caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. peanut oil
• 1-2 banana or bamboo leaves
• oil

1- Add coloring to the water until it’s a deep red color.

2- Mix all the other ingredients together and knead, adding water bit by bit, until you get a smooth dough
. 

3- Divide into 12 balls. Cover the bowl with a wet tea towel to prevent drying out.
4- Heat water in a wok, and prepare the steamer. Cut 12 pieces of leaves and oil them. Place into the steamer.


5- Flatten 1 dough ball to about 1/4-inch thickness
, put a ball of filling in the center, and wrap skin over, sealing the edges together
. Roll lightly between your palms to smooth.

6- Lightly dust the mold with rice flour
. (If you don't have a mold, they work fine as round balls.) Flour your hands and dust the dough as well
. Gently press the dough ball into the mold, then knock mold against the table to dislodge. Place cake on an oiled leaf
 in the steamer. Repeat for all dough balls.

7- Steam over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes, or until the cakes are a deep glistening red (open the lid halfway through to depressurize briefly).
 Allow to cool, then brush lightly with oil so they won't stick together
.

3- Remember and honor my ancestors:

Those who practice ancestor veneration believe that dead family members have the ability to influence the fates of the living; the goal of their practices is to help ensure the ancestors' goodwill, but also to cultivate values like family loyalty and respect. When I teach children about these practices, I emphasize that second part. 

I have great respect for my ancestors; many of them were amazing people. My own belief is that we all become part of the Great Spirit when we die, so to honor my ancestors is to honor God.

I can’t travel to where my relatives are buried, so I had my ceremony yesterday, in my own backyard (it qualifies as a graveyard because we certainly have a lot of beloved pets buried there).

My ceremony was supposed go like this:

• Set up a chair near our backyard fire pit, and bring out hot tea and a plate of red tortoise cakes.
• Spear the paper money with candles and joss sticks, in the fire pit, and add the gold ingots that we folded. Light the joss sticks and red candles.
• Read the names of my ancestors, back as far as I know (it’s a rather long list of names).
• Pour a little tea on the ground, then drink the rest, and eat the cakes.

Unfortunately, it started to rain pretty hard just after we lit the candles, so I didn't stay to finish the ceremony. I will try again today!