Shanglin Five-Colored Glutinous Rice

Shanglin Five-Colored Glutinous Rice

　　Also known as "Five-Colored Rice," or called Qingjing Rice or Flower Rice, this dish gets its name from the five colors of the glutinous rice—black, red, yellow, purple, and white. It is a traditional food steamed and cooked by every household during the Qingming Festival and the traditional March 3rd Song Festival. Prepared by the Zhuang people to serve guests and honor ancestors, it is also a beloved specialty enjoyed by people of all ages. On the day of the festival, every household’s dining table features this colorful rice. Families wrap the rice along with pork, sausages, fried tofu, and other dishes using fresh cabbage leaves and enjoy them heartily amid laughter and conversation, creating a uniquely delightful scene.

　　The preparation of the Five-Colored Glutinous Rice involves dyeing the rice in five different colors: red, yellow, purple, black, and white. Red is typically achieved using juice extracted from red-blue grass or large red leaves, yellow from yellow flower herb juice, purple from purple-blue vine juice, and black from maple leaf juice. High-quality glutinous rice from Shanglin is soaked and dyed in these colors separately, then steamed in separate bamboo steamers according to color. This rice is also used as an offering to ancestors during the March 3rd Festival or the Qingming Festival.