Spring is the time when the earth comes back to life. Instead of the reserved state of hiding away in winter, all the hibernating things start to stir.

The pink peach blossoms and green willows are charming to the eye, but I prefer the indescribably relaxing feeling when the rivers thaw and the ice and snow melt.

The brittle ice cracks on the river surface are like a giant stretching a terribly comfortable  after hibernation, bursting the too-tight clothes. When it gets a bit warmer, small bubbles will "gurgle, gurgle" up from the river surface and then turn into gurgling water, slowly flowing across the land it's going to nourish, or surging vigorously and flowing into big rivers.

Loving the river thawing in spring, I also prefer to taste those spring delicacies in the early warm days with alternating cold spells. Sometimes they flow vividly between the lips and teeth like spring water, and sometimes they burst out with enthusiasm, making the tongue feel warm and filling it with the flavor of spring.

The Flowing Soup Dumplings, as Gentle as a Brook
Perhaps there's no food that can better echo the wonderful scene of rivers thawing in spring than the steamed soup dumplings.

The high-quality broth made from chicken and pigskin has to endure the cold first and turn into lumps of meat juice and fall asleep. It's not until the dough wrapper and minced meat gently wrap it up that it regains its liveliness in the mist and joins the surging craving in the mouths of foodies.

When it comes to the "ancestor" of the steamed soup dumplings, we have to mention the Kaifeng Steamed Soup Dumplings. After all, the term "steamed bun" became popular in Kaifeng, the capital city of the Northern Song Dynasty. The predecessor of the steamed soup dumplings, the "Filled-paste Steamed Bun" or "Steamed Soup Bun", was included in the list of buns in the Song Dynasty listed in "The Old Stories of Wulin".

The filling method of the "ancestor" is a bit different from the commonly used aspic in the market nowadays. The marinated pork granules have to be constantly pounded by hand and mixed with water and sesame oil at a certain rhythm. After repeating this for two hours, the minced meat, which is full of juice and sticky yet unbroken, can be made.

A steamer of delicate Kaifeng Steamed Soup Dumplings should be "as white as a chrysanthemum and as hanging as a lantern".

Pick up the dumplings with chopsticks from the gathered folds, carefully observe the delicate dumplings that seem as fragile as if they could be broken with a touch. The dough wrapper as thin as a cicada's wings, the light golden soup, and the bright red minced meat are combined into one, reflecting the spring light in every way.

Take a soup spoon to hold the bun from the bottom, bite a small hole in the bun, and then you can suck the flowing gravy to your heart's content. After that, swallow the wrapper and the minced meat. In this way, a tiny spring is lit with a warm light in your stomach.

The Bursting Flavors, Like a Rampant Flow
The soup that flows gently from the steamed soup dumplings is as gentle as spring. And the delicacies that can burst out with rich juice in the mouth can also help us sense the unrestrained side of spring.

When it comes to bursting with juice, I always can't help thinking of the amazing "Pissing Shrimp Balls" in Stephen Chow's "God of Cookery", which can be used like table tennis balls. The image of the juice splashing out when you put them in your mouth, making you want to hide under an umbrella, is absurd but really makes your mouth water.

The beef paste, which has been pounded more than 26,000 times until it turns into "Barbie pink", wraps the slightly firm paste of the Pissing Shrimp that has been steamed first and then frozen, and is kneaded into a ball that is white inside and red outside, like a litchi with its colors reversed. After the small "litchi core" is boiled in water and dissolved, it will become a small bomb full of soup, ready to explode at any touch.

The repeated pounding for half an hour makes a large amount of air embed in the beef puree while keeping the muscle fibers intact, just like a spring full of energy. Once you put it in your mouth, it will immediately release its potential energy and splash the delicious beef and shrimp juice everywhere, like a naughty child jumping up and down in the stream, splashing water and having fun.

In the Land of Abundance, the pomelo, a symbol of spring, doesn't want to quietly hang on the branches, waiting for people to discover its vigorous burst in the physical sense.

That eye-catching orange-red color doesn't allow it to keep a low profile after all.

"I can't wait!" The pomelo shouts and jumps down from the treetop, quickly takes off its ugly yet cute outer shell, and eagerly shows off its "muscles" that are so full that they seem about to break through the membrane.

Take a closer look at its mighty appearance. It turns out that it's made up of grains of pulp that lock in the sweet and sour tantalizing juice, like a mass of salmon roe squeezed together. Bite it in your mouth, and it will burst out vigorously immediately, painting your mouth full of spring colors with its fruit juice.

The Melting-center Delicacies, as Fascinating as Melting Snow
The melting center is a trend on the tip of the tongue in recent years and also a characteristic form of food.

When you put it in your mouth, there must be a warm and lingering feeling. The sweet or rich warm flow is reluctant to leave the tongue. But if you hesitate and don't finish it right away, the melting center will mercilessly solidify and form lumps, and the taste will be completely lost.

I always think that the melting center is like the spring snow that has just started to melt, sometimes solidifying and sometimes melting away. It's fleeting and thus even more precious.

On the Lantern Festival, a bowl of warm glutinous rice balls not only draws a perfect full stop for the Spring Festival but also kicks off the transition from winter to spring.

With a sticky exterior and a flowing filling like quicksand, bite a small hole in it, and the eager sesame thick paste will gurgle out. Even people who don't usually like sweet food will be conquered by these glutinous rice balls and the flowing filling.

When spring gets a bit warmer, we can look forward to the green rice balls.

Going to a familiar old store to welcome the freshly steamed green rice balls just out of the steamer is probably an enviable privilege for people in the Yangtze River Delta region. A bunch of cute green rice balls are piled up together, with the green color of spring connecting into a patch, announcing the gentle arrival of spring.

Pick up one and take a small bite. It's soft and glutinous but doesn't stick to the teeth, slightly sweet with the fragrance of grass. Take another bite. Oh! The fragrant red bean paste filling flows over every taste bud like lava. Before you know it, your mind is completely occupied by the astonishing sweet fragrance.

Regardless of the seasons, Cantonese people can also enjoy the melting-center delicacies that tug at the heartstrings. Just get up early and go to a teahouse.

In the anticipation of tea drinkers, steamers of custard buns are stacked together and constantly brought out from the kitchen, making the waiters seem like the "Heavenly King Holding a Pagoda".

The plump custard buns are squeezed in the small steamers. They are soft and white on the outside and hide salted and sweet egg yolks inside. Take a bite, and the scalding custard filling will flow out in a rush, rushing up to the head and down to the heart.

If you're lucky, you can also order freshly baked egg tarts.

The oval and flat egg tarts don't look impressive, but the crispy texture brought by hundreds of layers of pastry makes people reluctant to let any crumbs escape from the corners of their mouths. The egg custard inside, under the wonderful temperature control of the chef, is condensed but not solidified, like the soft lips of spring breeze, kissing the cheeks from the inside.

In the warm atmosphere of spring, all things unreservedly release the accumulated energy and flavors, making a stunning appearance in a new life posture, which cheers up our shrinking spirits.

If winter is a noun, in my opinion, spring is a verb.