Shaxian Bean-Flavored Glutinous Rice Cake

Shaxian Bean-Flavored Glutinous Rice Cake

　　Known as the "living fossil" of ancient Han Chinese traditional cuisine, Shaxian snacks are a branch of the long-standing culinary traditions of the Central Plains Han people. They combine the food characteristics of Fuzhou and Southern Fujian with the Hakka mountain-dwelling food culture of the Tingzhou region. As a result, the distinctly regional Shaxian snacks are divided into two major schools: the urban school, known for its light, fresh, sweet flavors and delicate preparation, with signature dishes such as flat meat dumplings (noodle-based), shaomai, and meat buns, which are uniquely distinctive; and the Xia Mao school, known for its salty, spicy, and sour flavors and more rustic preparation, represented by Xia Mao Town. Its ingredients mainly include rice, sweet potatoes, and taro, such as rice jelly, xi guo (a type of cake), rice jelly skin (made from non-glutinous and glutinous rice flour), and beef dishes.

　　Historically, the people of Xia Mao were predominantly of Hakka origin and had a tradition of traveling and working away from home. As a result, the Xia Mao school of snacks was the earliest and most widespread in terms of operating food businesses outside the region, with traces of Xia Mao people found almost everywhere across China. This mobility also led to a separation between the processing of ingredients and the operation of services in the Xia Mao school—those who processed the food did not sell it, and those who sold it did not process it, resulting in simple, repetitive, low-skill labor. In contrast, the urban residents of Shaxian, influenced by mountain culture, preferred to process and sell their own food, adopting a family-style "front shop, back workshop" business model. The urban school of Shaxian snacks is finely made and offers a wide variety, becoming the mainstay of Shaxian cuisine. Therefore, anyone who has visited Shaxian must try the local snacks, and after tasting "Shaxian snacks," many are left with the sentiment that "there are no better snacks after returning from Shaxian."

　　Ingredients: glutinous rice, soybeans, red bean paste, white sugar

　　Method:

　　1. Soak the glutinous rice, then grind it into a paste, press out the water to make wet glutinous rice flour; roast the soybeans until fragrant and grind them into soybean powder.

　　2. Divide the wet glutinous rice flour into small portions, then wrap them around red bean paste filling.

　　3. Steam until cooked, then coat with soybean powder to finish.