Five-color glutinous rice

Five-color glutinous rice

　　Every year on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, if you visit a Miao family, you will be treated to fragrant five-color rice. Five-color rice refers to steamed glutinous rice that appears in five colors: red, yellow, purple, white, and black.

　　To make five-color rice, first the leaves of the Vaccinium bracteatum tree (a species of Rhododendron, also known as the "black rice tree") are gathered from the mountains, pounded in a stone mortar, and then stored in a cloth bag. The bag is placed in an iron pot with an appropriate amount of water to boil and extract the juice, which is used to soak the glutinous rice. The rice soaked in the black rice tree water turns black, the rice soaked in yellow flower water turns yellow, the rice soaked in purple-blue water turns blue, the rice soaked in magenta water turns red, and the natural color of the rice is white. These five colors of rice are mixed evenly and steamed in a bamboo steamer to become five-color rice.

　　Preparation Method

　　1. Wash the glutinous rice and soak it in water for more than one hour, then drain and set aside.

　　2. Rinse the dried shrimp with water, then soak them in hot water for a while; the soaking water can be reserved for later use.

　　3. Cut pork tenderloin into 2 cm strips. Scald the bamboo shoots in boiling water to remove the astringency, then dice them into 1 cm cubes. Prepare the carrots the same way as the bamboo shoots. Wash the shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water until soft, remove the stems, and dice them into 1 cm pieces. Remove the skins from the peanuts and set the peanut kernels aside.

　　4. Place the washed glutinous rice in an electric rice cooker, adding about 20% less water than usual for cooking regular rice—this will result in firmer glutinous rice.

　　5. Heat a wok over a flame, pour in 40 grams of oil. Once the oil is hot, stir-fry the pork first until it changes color, then add the shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and bamboo shoots and stir-fry together. Finally, add the peanuts and dried shrimp and mix everything together.

　　6. In the broth, add 120 grams of the water used to soak the dried shrimp, along with soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, and other seasonings. Simmer over a flame for about 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced to about half the volume of the ingredients, then turn off the heat.

　　7. Pour the cooked ingredients and seasonings over the hot steamed glutinous rice, mix well, cover the pot, and let it sit for a while before serving.

　　Nutritional & Therapeutic Value

　　Five-color glutinous rice dyed with natural plants is not only visually appealing and delicious but also has certain medicinal benefits.

　　1. Red-leaf herb (红兰草) helps promote blood production. The Qing Dynasty text 《侣山堂类辩》 states: “Red flowers, rich in color and juice, are agents that generate and invigorate blood.”

　　2. Five-color glutinous rice has heat-clearing and blood-cooling effects. Li Shizhen wrote in 《Compendium of Materia Medica》 that maple leaves “relieve diarrhea, improve sleep, strengthen tendons and boost energy. Long-term consumption lightens the body and prolongs life.”

　　3. Eating five-color glutinous rice can “strengthen tendons and bones, benefit the stomach and intestines, enhance mobility, and nourish the marrow.”