Eight-Treasure Sweet Rice

Eight-Treasure Sweet Rice

　　A classical sweet dish from Shaanxi. Also known as Eight-Treasure Rice, it primarily uses glutinous rice as its main ingredient. It is paired with ingredients such as red dates, lotus seeds, lily bulbs, ginkgo nuts, longan pulp, and shredded preserved vegetables (green and red). Other optional ingredients include walnuts, hawthorn cake, raisins, peanuts, rose petals, and cherries. The basic preparation involves washing the glutinous rice thoroughly, placing it in a basin with water, steaming it in a basket, then removing it and mixing it with an appropriate amount of white sugar and cooked lard. Another steaming bowl is prepared by coating the bottom with a layer of oil, or by alternatingly laying slices of fat pork. Various fruits and nuts are arranged on the bottom of the bowl in a desired pattern. The steamed glutinous rice is then spooned into the bowl, leveled out, and poked with a few holes using chopsticks before being steamed again until fully cooked. It is then inverted onto a serving plate for presentation. Its flavor is characterized by being sticky, soft, and tender, with a sweet and slightly sour rich aroma. It is pleasant to the palate and rich in carbohydrates. Ingredients such as walnuts are said to strengthen the waist and nourish kidneys, longan benefits the heart and spleen, and lotus seeds calm the mind and soothe the nerves—making this a truly nourishing delicacy. (Xi'an)