Yuanling Glutinous Rice Cake

Yuanling Glutinous Rice Cake

　　Making glutinous rice cakes is an essential food for the people of Yuanling during Spring Festival, when erecting the ridge beam of a new house, offering thanks to the grain god in the tenth lunar month, giving gifts to children at New Year, weddings, and funeral ceremonies. It is especially prominent during the Spring Festival, with the saying “On the 28th, we make the cakes.” As the Spring Festival approaches, at the end of the lunar December, every household makes glutinous rice cakes. According to local chronicles: “The glutinous rice is pounded in a stone trough until it becomes paste-like, then pressed into round shapes resembling a full moon. The larger ones have a diameter of one foot five inches, while the common ones are about four inches across, varying in thickness from three to eight fen.” After making the small cakes, the most skilled women, who are adept at crafting them, make several large ones—small ones weighing three to five jin, and large ones over ten jin. These are called “cage-breaking cakes,” symbolizing “a bumper harvest of all grains.” Making glutinous rice cakes is a physically demanding task, usually carried out by young men, while women sprinkle water and knead the dough. Two people stand opposite each other, first kneading and then pounding, breaking into a sweat even on snowy or icy days. Making the cakes is also a meticulous process: hands are coated with beeswax or tea oil, first forming small rounds, then pressing them flat by hand, aiming for a perfectly round, smooth, and attractive appearance.