What is the rice cake made of?

The rice cake is made of glutinous rice flour.

Rice cakes are mostly made of glutinous rice flour, which is a specialty of Jiangnan. In the north, sticky food such as glutinous rice (commonly known as yellow rice) was first popularized. This shelled millet powder is yellow, sticky and sweet after being steamed with water. It is a delicious food for people in the Yellow River valley to celebrate the harvest.

The article "A Brief Introduction to the Scenery of Jingshi" published during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty recorded that Beijingers at that time would "eat millet cakes and have New Year cakes on the first day of the first month". It is not difficult to see that "rice cake" is a homonym of "sticky cake" in the north.

The experienced rice cake master said that the most important thing to make a good rice cake is to pay attention to water and oil. In addition, whether glutinous rice flour is pure or not is also very important. Most glutinous rice flour bought in the general market is mixed with other rice flour, which is not soft enough to eat.

The rice cake should be made directly from glutinous rice to ensure its purity and original flavor. Making rice cakes is very simple. Rice cakes can be made into many flavors, but they are all based on the most basic original rice cakes, plus other materials that people like, such as red dates.

Historical legends of rice cakes

Rice cakes, also known as sticky cakes, are homophonic "high every year" and contain people's hopes for a happy life in the future. Rice cakes are usually made of sticky particles. There are rice cakes in the north, rice cakes in the south of the Yangtze River, and glutinous rice Baba in the southwest. ?

Eating rice cakes is one of the customs of the Han nationality. The rice cake is an indispensable holiday food, which is said to have been handed down from Suzhou. Its origin has such a legend:

Suzhou was the capital of Wu in the ancient Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, the princes dominated and the war lasted for years. Wu Zixu, a doctor of the State of Chu, went to Wu to avenge his father, intending to borrow soldiers to attack the State of Chu. The king of Wu did not agree, so Wu Zixu killed the king of Wu, led the troops to attack the capital of Chu, and set up a new king of Wu to reign, and Wu Zixu was also granted land.

In order to prevent aggression, Wu Zixu led people to build the famous city of He Lv. After the city was repaired, he said to his confidant, "After my death, if the country is in trouble and the people are hungry, you can dig a few feet under the city gate to find food." Soon, Wu Zixu was trapped and committed suicide. The State of Yue took the opportunity to attack the State of Wu, and the war continued, and there was famine everywhere.

In times of crisis, someone remembered Wu Zixu's entrustment before his death, so they secretly tore down the city wall and dug up the ground. It turned out that the city foundation was made of bricks and stones made of glutinous rice, and people used it to make a kind of food, which helped them overcome their difficulties. This kind of food was later called rice cake. Later, in the twelfth lunar month, people made rice cakes with glutinous rice as a sacrifice to Wu Zixu, and at the same time they also took the auspicious meaning of "reaching heaven step by step one year".