Rice Cake Strips

Rice Cake Strips

　　The people of Chaoshan have long enjoyed eating “rice cake strips,” a tradition with a long history. But who first invented this dish? Here’s a legend behind it.

　　Guo Zhenshun, from Longxi in Jieyang, was born in the first year of the Yuán Huángqìng era (1312 AD), the daughter of a local Confucian instructor surnamed Guo. Since childhood, she was gentle and virtuous, with a love for poetry and books. She was betrothed to Zhou Boyu of Chaoyang and became even more diligent in her studies, mastering the classics and histories, excelling especially in mathematics and literary composition.

　　It was the time of transition between the Yuan and Ming dynasties, when various warlords rose up and continuous warfare ravaged the land. Guo Zhenshun, gifted in mathematical calculations and well-read in the classics, knew that although Chaoyang was far from the Central Plains and located on the coast, there was no guarantee that war would not reach there. If conflict affected Chaoyang, farming would be abandoned and commerce would dry up, leading to unimaginable consequences. So she planned to invent a kind of food that would not interfere with existing grain supplies but could be stored for a long time. However, day after day, despite racking her brains, she had yet to come up with such an item.

　　One day, while drinking congee, Guo Zhenshun noticed a few small fragments in her bowl. When she picked them up, they crumbled easily, and when chewed, they were fragrant and delicious. She placed the broken pieces on a plate to examine them closely but still couldn’t identify what they were. She then checked the rice jar thoroughly but found nothing unusual. It was only then that she remembered the rice used that day had been offered in worship to the Sea God a few days prior. But why were these fragments there? She pondered further... Eventually, she realized: a few days earlier, during the ceremony to the Sea God, several small pieces of rice cake had fallen onto the rice tray. When that same rice—now offered to the Sea God—was cooked a few days later, those dried rice cake fragments that had fallen onto it were cooked along with the rice, resulting in these “easily crumbled, fragrant and tasty” bits.

　　After that, Guo Zhenshun taught others to cut the divine rice cake offerings into small pieces, then dry and store them.

　　Before long, war did indeed reach Chaoyang, plunging the region into famine. Thanks to Guo Zhenshun’s invention of “rice cake strips,” the local people had something to stave off hunger and managed to survive the hard times.