Duck Mother Rolls

Duck Mother Rolls

　　　A famous snack. A type of glutinous rice ball filled with sweet filling. It gets its name from its resemblance to a mother duck floating and bobbing on the water. Originally a treat for the Lantern Festival, it is also commonly known as Yuanxiao.

　　Legend has it that during the Song Dynasty, it was customary for every household to eat glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival, symbolizing peace, good fortune, and family reunion. In the Qing Dynasty, water flour dumplings were made using water flour for the dough—exceptionally smooth. The filling included crushed pine nuts and walnuts, lard, and sugar, or tender meat with the sinews removed, pounded fine and mixed with chopped scallions and autumn soy sauce. The method for making water flour: soak glutinous rice in water for one day and night, grind it finely with the water, collect the mixture in a cloth, press the cloth from below to remove the residue, then dry the fine powder for later use. This method has been passed down through generations.

　　In Chaoshan-style Duck Mother Rolls, glutinous rice is ground into a slurry, the water is pressed out, and the resulting rice paste is made into a wrapper to encase fillings such as red bean paste, melon strips, and taro paste. The mixture is shaped like a duck egg, then boiled in a sweet syrup.