Ash Water Cake

Ash Water Cake

　　Anyone who has visited Dingnan and tasted its local snacks knows about a snack called Ash Water Cake. It is a completely green and environmentally friendly food. Back in my hometown, whenever relatives hold celebrations, it’s customary to bring Ash Water Cake along with other gifts as a congratulatory gesture.

　　 Though it looks simple, making a good Ash Water Cake is not easy. First, the concentration of the ash water must be just right—too weak and it lacks the desired alkaline aroma, too strong and it becomes unpleasant to eat. Then there's the rice paste consistency: too thick and the final product will be too hard and lack elasticity, too thin and it will turn out too soft and fail to hold its shape.

　　 The process of making Ash Water Cake is elaborate. First, you need to cut down a shrub called “yellow board firewood” from the mountains, dry it, and then burn it into ash. Boil the ash with water to extract the lye, then filter it to obtain clear liquid—the filtered, purified water is what we call ash water. Then wash the rice thoroughly and soak it in the ash water. The soaked rice turns an alkaline yellow color. Next, mix the rice with fresh Chinese chives, and grind it using either a stone mill or electric grinder to make rice paste. Then pour the rice paste into a pot, heat it, and stir until it forms a dough-like mass (this part is labor-intensive and requires a lot of hand strength—I still can’t manage this step myself). After that, manually shape the doughy mass into strips, dumpling shapes, or finger-like forms. For dumpling shapes, a filling is added—commonly pickled vegetables or a mixture of pork, mushrooms, fresh vegetables, and other ingredients. Making the rice dough without cracks also takes patience and skill. Heh, I’m pretty good at this part. Once the shaped Ash Water Cake is ready, steam it, cut it into pieces, and then you can stew or stir-fry it—depending on your personal taste or dietary needs.

　　 Ash Water Cake usually comes in two colors: yellow or green. The yellow variety is made by adding a type of ingredient called sophora flower when grinding the rice into paste. The green one simply involves adding fresh Chinese chives when grinding the paste.

　　 Times have changed, but Ash Water Cake has become a famous local snack in Dingnan. As an alkaline food, nutrition experts say that our daily meals should include some alkaline elements. Eating alkaline-rich Ash Water Cake is certainly beneficial for health. It has an alkaline fragrance, and is soft, smooth, and slightly chewy. When served hot, it can be eaten with spicy sauce or sour wine, or paired with prepared soup ingredients. When cooled, it makes a great snack to share with relatives and friends.

　　 In the rural areas of my hometown, you can tell whether a housewife is skilled or not just by looking at how well she makes Ash Water Cake. For newlywed brides in the village, learning to make Ash Water Cake is an essential lesson. Ah, I only learned how to make it after I got married. Back when I was single, I only knew how to eat, not how to make it. Otherwise, how else would we have such a local saying: “Send sons to school, and daughters to learn household duties.” It means boys only become sensible and successful after going to school and receiving education, while girls only stop being spoiled once they get married and learn to endure hardship, work diligently, manage relationships, and run a household.