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Sticky rice balls(pastry) Sticky rice balls are a pastry from Sichuan that has been prepared since the Song Dynasty. This sticky rice flour ball Chinese name called Ciba(糍粑) or Nuomici (糯米糍)is also referred as Chinese glutinous rice dumpling.It is characterized by its soft texture, mixed with aromatic sesame and white sugar. Take a bite of it, you will feel it melt in your mouth. Sometimes we can substitute the sesame for coconut or peanut,which is a similar pastry famous in other province like Guangdong.

History

This glutinous rice dumpling introduced is also known as the Scholar rice cake(状元糍) in China.Once upon a time, a villager named Zouyinglong(邹应龙)decided to go to the capital city to attend the imperial examination(科举考试) , then most of his relatives and friends offered him such kind of pastry named Ciba(糍粑) to prevent him from being too hungry. On his way to the imperial examination, he just ate these Ciba and drank some water. Finally he arrived in the capital city and succeeded in becoming Number One Scholar(状元)，then the Scholar rice cake was getting its popularity after his success. Nowadays we call it Sticky Rice Balls or Ciba. Geographical differences This type of glutinous rice flour balls is eaten mainly in southern China. While the similar food Tangyuan（汤圆） is eaten in both northern and southern China. Its fillings consist of sweet fillings such as sugar, sesame, sweet bean paste and sweetened tangerine peel are used. Filling differences There are two kinds of Sticky rice balls in Guangdong or Hongkong, the first is that they seems like Ciba in Sichuan with no filling, while the second one is that they always have some filling like mango or durian.

Preparation

What is sticky rice?

Glutinous rice, also known as sticky rice is one of the most important ingredients in different types of Chinese pastry. We love glutinous rice. There are many famous festival foods made with glutinous rice, for example the rice dumpling for Dragon Boat Festival, New Year Rice cake for Spring Festival and Ciba for Middle Autumn day.

Steaming the rice

Pour pure glutinous rice into the water for at least three hours until it gets softer(because it is very hard and also difficult to be cooked),then we can use a pressure cooker to steam it for 1.5 hours and cool it down under running water.

Pounding and rubbing

Pour it in a stone mortar and pound it with pestle, it’s difficult for the producers to pound these steamed rice which we can know from its name sticky rice, they need to put more strength to pound these rice. The whole pounding lasts for half an hour even more. Then we need to use our hands to rub it, we can rub it in different shapes, but usually it should be shaped like a ball.

Mixing

Now we need to mix glutinous rice, sugar, starch(淀粉), and coconut powder or coconut milk all together in a large bowl. Add water and oil. Mix until well combined. Then we can put them in our refrigerator for around two hours, finally you can taste your own Sticky Rice Balls. You can also substitute the coconut for mango, which will improve the flavor. You can also reheat them in your steamer if you like eating warm pastry. Attention: try to eat them up if not finished put them in your refrigerator to prevent from going bad.

Notable restaurants

Hong Kong Lo Kong Kee Desserts(老港记)can also found in Guangzhou and many other cities. But they serve different sticky rice balls filled with durian, if you like durian i think you would not deny to try them.

Zhangliao Bakery is situated in Guangdong Zhanjiang，which has opened since 1980s. its main serving are all kinds of bread and pastry. Generally speaking the sticky rice balls are Street food so most of them can be found in your city street, they are very cheap and easily found.

Famous master

Chenlin(陈林) What made him famous was his handmade pastry brown sugar sticky rice balls, what’s more he made them by frying, the most difficult thing is that how to control the oil temperature to an exact extent to produce crispy outer skin and soft inner stuffing.

Caiyunjiao(蔡运娇) She is famous for her speed, who can make 100 sticky rice balls within one minute, she has learned the technique since she was 17, now she is 68, and she always teach her neighbors how to make sticky rice balls in her spare time.

Related dishes

There are mainly three different kinds of sticky rice balls in southern China, the first type is Sichuan sesame sticky rice balls, the second is Zhejiang brown sugar sticky rice balls, the last one is Guangdong coconut sticky rice balls. The first and the third are both steamed sticky rice balls, while the second is fried. What’s more Tangyuan is similar to sticky rice balls, while Tangyuan is made of raw sticky rice flour but sticky rice balls are made of steamed sticky rice, we can eat the latter one directly but we need to heat the Tangyuan, it’s the main difference.

External links

You can see a video about sticky rice balls in 11:50