The couple added the sweet potatoes to the dough they had mixed and kneaded it evenly. Then they began pinching off small pieces, rolling them into balls and flattening them before wrapping the filling inside like dumplings and pinching the edges shut.
The finished grass-wrapped kueh looked like an enormous dumpling, so the locals also called them rice dumplings.
Once they had wrapped a dozen or so savory ones, they put the first batch on to steam.
From the moment the grass-wrapped kueh went into the steamer, the two children kept circling the stove, asking nonstop, "Are they ready? Are they ready?"
The couple's ears were practically growing calluses from listening. Resisting the urge to smack them, they gave each child one as soon as the kueh came out of the steamer. Only then did things quiet down.
"If you don't finish them, I'll beat you to death!" Ye Yaodong glared at the two children who had been making such a racket.
The two nodded, too busy to speak. Ignoring the heat, they each took a small bite, then spent a good while huffing and puffing before chewing a couple of times and swallowing. Who knew whether they had even tasted anything?
Ye Yaodong handed Lin Xiuqing one too. "Let's have these for lunch. No need to cook anything else."
She nodded.
By the time they finished wrapping them, it would probably be past lunchtime anyway, so there was no need to cook.
These grass-wrapped kueh were huge, bigger than an adult's fist. Two or three would pretty much fill a person up.
After eating two each, they went back to wrapping. Only after using up all the savory filling did they move straight on to the sweet ones, of which there were only twenty.
Their family did not like