Wuyuan Steamed Rice Cake 婺源汽糕
Wuyuan Steamed Rice Cake is featured among the local specialties of Jiangxi.
Wuyuan Steamed Rice Cake (婺源汽糕) is a large, round, fermented rice cake from Wuyuan County (婺源县) in Shangrao (上饶), Jiangxi, steamed on a gauze-lined sieve. Its Chinese name means a cake made by steam. CCTV News (央视新闻) reported in 2023 that Wuyuan families traditionally eat it, rather than zongzi (粽子, leaf-wrapped rice dumplings), at the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节).
How it is made
According to a feature by Jiang Chuxin in Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao (大公报), reprinted by China News Service (中国新闻网), the cake is made from indica rice (籼米): early-season rice is too hard and not sticky, late-season rice too soft. The rice soaks overnight in well water or spring water and is ground into a batter the next day. Fermentation is the key step. Tea leaves are left to turn brown in a warm jar, then pounded with a wine starter (酒曲) and stirred into the batter; it is ready when tiny bubbles show on the surface. Batter that has not bubbled steams into a dense cake without holes.
The batter is spread by hand over gauze in a flat-bottomed steaming sieve and scattered with a pre-fried topping: finely chopped bean sprouts or pressed tofu, or, in more careful kitchens, small dried shrimp or dried bamboo shoots. Over high heat the cake is done in a little more than ten minutes. It is brushed with chilli oil, turned out onto a board and cut into pieces.
Flavour and texture
The cut cake has a glossy surface and a honeycomb of air holes inside. Fermentation makes it springy, smooth and chewy, and after the savoury topping a faint mellow aroma lingers on the tongue.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.