Pounding glutinous rice cakes

Last updated 2026-11-10 — In Taining, pounding glutinous rice cakes is an essential part of wedding and funeral banquets, serving as a "stomach-filler" before the main feast, commonly known as "pre-filling the belly." First, glutinous rice that has been washed and soaked is steamed in a large bamboo steamer. It is then poured into a stone mortar and pounded into a sticky dough, which is taken out and shaped into various forms of rice cakes. The cakes come in types such as glutinous rice cake, Zhuangyuan cake, Qingming cake, Shangyuan cake, and black palm rice cake.