Traditional food

What is a rice cake?

Nián-gāo, a traditional food of the Han nationality in China, belongs to the seasonal food of the Lunar New Year. Rice cakes are made of rice or glutinous rice, boiled into rice, beaten with water or ground into powder, and pressed. During the Spring Festival, many areas in China pay attention to eating rice cakes. There are three colors of rice cakes: red, yellow and white, which symbolize gold and silver. The rice cake is also called "rice cake", which is homophonic with "getting taller every year", meaning that children are getting taller every year.

Development of rice cake

In the Han Dynasty, rice cakes were called "rice cakes", "fish bait" and "glutinous rice". In the book Dialect of Han Dynasty, the title of "Gao" was popular in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The ancients also had a development process from rice cakes to rice cakes. In the 6th century A.D., the cookbook Historical Records contained the method of making "white cocoon candy" for rice cakes, which said: "If the rice is cooked thoroughly and hotter than that in Chu Jiu, it must be cooked extremely well so as not to have rice grains ..." That is, after the glutinous rice is steamed, it is boiled into rice and then cut into peach kernels. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, rice cakes have developed into perennial snacks in the market, and there are differences between North and South flavors. The rice cake is delicious, sweet and mellow, and has a strong historical flavor.