Guilin Bowl Cake

Guilin Bowl Cake

　　Bowl cake and water cake, also known as "bangbang cake," are made by soaking sticky rice in water from the Li River and grinding it into a semi-liquid state (sticky rice grown in Quanzhou and along both sides of the Li River is preferred). Sugar is added, then the mixture is steamed in small light-yellow coarse bowls. The difference between bowl cake and water cake depends on the amount of water added. Bowl cake is slightly drier, offering a sweet and fluffy texture; water cake is thinner, smooth and easy to swallow. The refreshing taste and delicate aroma of both come from the water of the Li River and the Guilin sticky rice "nourished" by it. Bowl cake is steamed in small bowls used as molds. It has a pale yellow color, a soft, fluffy, cottony, and tender texture, is rich in nutrients, and easy to digest, making it suitable for the elderly and children.

　　Classification:

　　Bowl cake can be divided into salty and sweet varieties based on flavor, but the salty version is more common.

　　Nutritional Content:

　　Calories 105.3 (kcal), Protein 5.5 (g), Fat 2.5 (g), Carbohydrates 15.2 (g)

　　Production:

　　Ingredients

　　For ages 1+ (serves 3): Half a cup of glutinous rice flour, 1 tablespoon of starch, 120 ml of warm water, 240 ml of boiling water, a pinch of salt.

　　Filling: 45 g of minced meat, 2 dried shiitake mushrooms, 5 g of crispy fried shallots.

　　Seasoning: 1 tablespoon of soy sauce paste.

　　Method:

　　Method One

　　1. Mix the glutinous rice flour and starch with warm water until smooth, then quickly stir in the boiling water to form a thick batter, and divide it into small bowls.

　　2. Finely chop the mushrooms, lightly stir-fry all the filling ingredients with the seasoning, and set aside.

　　3. Place a small amount of filling in each bowl of batter, then steam for 20–30 minutes.

　　Method Two　　

　　Ingredients: Flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, red and green candied fruits, melon seeds, raisins

　　1. Sift the flour finely and set aside. Rinse the raisins with water.

　　2. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add water and mix well, then add sugar, baking powder, and the sifted flour. Stir gently by hand until no lumps remain to form the bowl cake batter.

　　3. Lightly grease the inside of small bowls, pour in half the amount of batter, then arrange red and green candied fruits, melon seeds, and raisins on top.

　　4. Heat water in a steamer until boiling, place the bowls in the steamer, and steam over high heat for 15 minutes until cooked. Remove from the steamer and invert the cakes out of the bowls.

　　Food Culture:

　　Traditionally, besides itinerant bangbang cake vendors, the most authentic places to try bowl cake and water cake in Guilin are two small restaurants: one at the west end of Huaqiao (Flower Bridge), and the other at the east end (behind Huaqiao). Each shop has about twenty bamboo chairs and tables, accommodating dozens of diners at once. Each shop also provides two large clay teapots and one large clay jar filled with free hawthorn tea.

　　The traditional method of both shops is to steam and sell bowl cake and water cake fresh. They use a large stove and cauldron setup resembling a hearth canteen, with a double-layered steamer basket that can produce around a hundred bowl cakes and water cakes in ten minutes. Most visitors to Mount Putuo and Crescent Mountain often have cake here for a midday meal, and each person usually takes away eight or ten pieces. The waiters even provide lotus leaf packaging. The aroma of the cake, rice, and sugar blends with the scents of bamboo, firewood, and lotus leaves, creating a mouthwatering experience that lingers long in memory.