Yangbi Rice Roll

Yangbi Rice Roll

　　Yangbi Rice Roll is a specialty snack from Yangbi County in Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Made from high-quality rice, it is delicious and can be served as a meal. With a history of about 30 years, it is a popular local dish in Yangbi.

　　The origin of Yangbi Rice Roll is Vietnam. After the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway began operating, some Vietnamese people started selling rice rolls along the railway line to make a living. It later spread to areas such as Kaiyuan in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. By then, its production and processing methods had evolved and were quite similar to today’s rice rolls, though with slight differences in ingredients. Around the 1980s, locals in Yangbi, aiming to earn a livelihood and encouraged by relatives in Guizhou, started the first rice roll production and sales at Yangbi Xiaojie. It gradually gained popularity across Yangbi.

　　Initially, Yangbi Rice Rolls were filled with bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms, and chili sauce. Since Yangbi is abundant in walnuts, they later switched to using walnut filling. Due to the poor transportation at the time, locals often traveled to markets by mule or horse. The early Yangbi Rice Rolls were especially favored by mountain dwellers who needed something quick for their journeys. To accommodate horseback travel, they used only walnut paste and homemade pickled vegetables (葡菜), with some adding a bit of chili if preferred. The rolls were easy and quick to make, allowing people to eat while riding. This is how the basic form of Yangbi Rice Roll took shape and has been passed down to this day...

　　Ingredients for making Yangbi Rice Roll: high-quality rice, snow water from Cangshan Mountain, ground walnut (or peanut) kernels, pickled vegetables, Sichuan pepper oil, garlic oil, MSG, soy sauce, cilantro, and other seasonings. Key steps in preparation: ① Soak high-quality rice in water for 2–4 hours; ② Grind the soaked rice into a rice batter; ③ Pour the batter into a round flat-bottomed pan mold, steam or boil it in hot water, then let it cool on a bamboo tray; ④ Place the steamed or boiled round rice rolls flat on a cutting board and slice them in half with a kitchen knife; ⑤ Spread the halved rolls with ground walnut (or peanut) kernels, add an appropriate amount of pickled vegetables and other seasonings, roll them up, slice them, and they are ready to serve.