Bouyei Five-Color Flower Rice

Bouyei Five-Color Flower Rice

　　Five-color flower rice is a specialty of the Bouyei people. They dye the rice in vibrant, multicolored hues, infusing it with endless poetic charm and romantic flair — a feat unmatched by any other culture in the world today.

　　The Origin of Five-Color Flower Rice

　　Legend has it that long ago, the three brothers — Zhuang-Dong, Zhuang-Dai, and Bouyei — worked diligently along the tranquil Duoyi River, living a happy and prosperous life. As the saying goes, "When trees grow big, they branch out; when people grow up, they part ways." The elder brother, Zhuang-Dong, and the second brother, Zhuang-Dai, had already started their own families. After discussing it, they decided to leave this beautiful and fertile land to their younger brother, Bouyei, while they would take their wives and children elsewhere to build new homes. When Bouyei learned of this, he refused to stay behind while his two elder brothers left. Only after much persuasion did Zhuang-Dong and Zhuang-Dai manage to convince him to remain. The day they parted was the third day of the third lunar month. Since then, to honor the bond of kinship, descendants of the three brothers gather by the scenic Duoyi River every lunar March 3rd. They sing and dance, pay tribute to their ancestors, and celebrate the bond of brotherhood. They select premium glutinous rice, gather mountain herbs and medicinal plants, and make colorful flower rice. They wish each other longevity, celebrate abundant harvests, thriving livestock, and a joyful life, hoping that life remains as beautiful as flowers and eternal as youth.

　　Making Five-Color Flower Rice

　　The process of making flower rice is quite complex. First, high-quality glutinous rice is washed and dried. Meanwhile, various healthful plants are gathered from the mountains and boiled to produce colors such as red, yellow, blue, orange, and black. The washed rice is then soaked separately in these plant-based dyes until the vibrant colors thoroughly penetrate the grains and the rice’s color is completely transformed. Afterward, the rice is rinsed clean by the water and steamed in a bamboo steamer. At this point, the steamer is filled with radiant reds, yellows, blues, oranges, and blacks, shimmering brilliantly in the thick steam, while the pure fragrance wafts throughout the room. Faced with such colorful and delicious food, even if you’re already full, you won’t be able to resist having a few bites.

　　Making five-color glutinous rice requires attention to method. For black glutinous rice, use maple leaves and the skin of their tender stems. Pound them in a mortar until crushed, air-dry slightly, then soak in a certain amount of water for one to two days. Remove and filter the leaf residue to obtain the black dye solution. Heat the black dye liquid in a pot over low heat to about 50–60 degrees Celsius, then soak the glutinous rice in it. For yellow dye, you can extract it from plants such as daylilies, gardenia, or turmeric. Boil the daylilies or crush the gardenia and soak them in water to get a yellow-orange dye solution. Alternatively, mash turmeric and mix it with the rice, kneading vigorously to achieve yellow-hued rice.

　　Red and purple dyes actually come from the same type of plant — red flower herb — but with different leaf shapes. The variation is created through boiling. "Leaves that are slightly longer yield a deeper color, producing a darker brew that turns the rice purple. Leaves that are rounder and lighter in color result in a lighter brew, turning the rice bright red."

　　Health Benefits of Bouyei Five-Color Flower Rice

　　Black: According to Compendium of Materia Medica, its functions and indications include: activating blood circulation, promoting vitality, relieving pain, and detoxifying. Used for bruises, toothaches, and abscesses.

　　Red: According to Compendium of Materia Medica, its functions and indications include: dispelling wind-dampness, eliminating blood stasis, relieving pain, and calming coughs. Used for joint pain, jaundice, amenorrhea, cough with excessive phlegm, burns, bruises, abscesses, and lowering blood lipids.

　　White: According to Compendium of Materia Medica, its functions and indications include: benefiting the spleen, boosting qi, nourishing vitality, and treating conditions like diabetes, frequent urination, spontaneous sweating, and diarrhea.

　　Yellow: In Bouyei folk remedies, a single-ingredient decoction can treat hemolytic jaundice hepatitis.

　　Purple: In Bouyei folk remedies, a single-ingredient decoction can treat diabetes, hypertension, and dizziness. (End)