Guanling Dar Ba

Guanling Dar Ba

　　Guanling Dar Ba

　　Guanling Dar Ba, also known as "Er Kuai Ba," is a traditional festive food of the people in Guanling. It is known for being pure white, soft yet chewy, fine-cut without breaking, smooth and refreshing, and holds up well when cooked—“it has bite when boiled and texture when eaten.” Every winter and lunar new year season, over ten thousand kilograms of Dar Ba are sold both within and outside the province.

　　Dar Ba is made from mountain glutinous rice, hard rice, and the unique water quality of Guanling. In the past, it was produced by pounding rice with a mortar and pestle, which was labor-intensive and low-yield. By the 1990s, people combined traditional production methods with modern technology, preserving the original qualities of the product while making the process faster, simpler, and more productive.

　　Dar Ba can be prepared in several ways: grilled, roasted, boiled, fried, or stir-fried. For grilling or roasting, slices of the cake are placed on charcoal or a stove-top grill until crispy and fragrant. To boil, the cake is cut into thin strips and cooked in a pot with sweet wine and sugar or with oil, salt, and fresh vegetables. Stir-frying involves slicing the cake into strips and cooking them over high heat with lard along with sausages, cured meats, or fresh lean pork, mustard greens, pea shoots, pickled chili peppers or whole dried chilies, and seasoned with scallions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and MSG for a delicious flavor. For frying, the cake is cut into thin slices or strips, fried in vegetable oil until light yellow, and served with hemp powder or water-fermented black beans.

　　Er Kuai Ba can be soaked in water from the winter and lunar new year season and preserved for about four months. When sliced into thin strips and dried, it can be stored in a cool, dry place for over a year, and simply soaked in water to soften before cooking. Nowadays, grain and oil processing factories produce vacuum-packed Dar Ba, allowing you to enjoy fresh Dar Ba all year round.