Tongcheng Steamed Rice Cake 桐城丰糕

How it is made

The Tongcheng culture, tourism and sports bureau (桐城市文化旅游体育局) describes the traditional method. Good-quality indica rice is washed and soaked until the water has penetrated the grain, then ground into a starch. White sugar is stirred in with either "浑酒" (cloudy wine, the by-product of home-made glutinous rice wine, also called "红酒") or "老面" (old dough, a sourdough starter), and the batter is left to ferment until "浮子" (the foam that floats on top of fermented batter) appears.

The batter is steamed one basket at a time. Before each basket goes on, a portion of batter is neutralised with lye water and given some baking-soda water to raise it. For the "荤糕" (meat cake) version, cubes of pork back fat about one centimetre square go in as well. The steamer starts over a fierce fire; after forty-odd minutes a second basket goes on and the first is moved up a level, and baskets keep being added until the stack is too high to reach. A chopstick pushed into the centre of the cake shows when it is done: if it comes out clean, the basket can come off.

Flavour and texture

The bureau describes Tongcheng Steamed Rice Cake as white as frost, light, puffy and soft, with a fresh, fragrant, sweet taste.

How it is eaten

After steaming, the cake cools in an airy place for ten minutes or more. Then auspicious phrases are written on top in food colouring, such as "恭喜发财" (may you prosper), "健康长寿" (health and long life) and "国泰平安" (peace for the country).