Longchuan Chewy Glutinous Rice Cake 龙川牛筋糕

Longchuan Chewy Glutinous Rice Cake (龙川牛筋糕) is a sweet, chewy cake of glutinous rice flour and sugars from Longchuan County (龙川县) in Heyuan (河源), Guangdong. Locally it is known as Laolong niujin gao (老隆牛筋糕); niujin (牛筋) means 'beef tendon', but the listed ingredients contain no meat. The making technique is on Heyuan's municipal list of intangible cultural heritage and is said to go back more than 300 years.

How it is made

The Longchuan Fabu (龙川发布) account on Nanfang+ (南方+) quotes a producer listing ingredients that include glutinous rice flour, white sugar, maltose and candied tangerine peel (陈皮糖). In the workshop, the white glutinous rice flour is stirred again and again with a brown syrup, and the cake is steamed. The account says the cake is still made by the traditional method, and a local producer said no preservatives may be added.

Flavour and texture

Once steamed, the cake is translucent, soft yet tough, and springy, with plenty of chew; flecks of tangerine peel show through it like scattered stars. China Daily (中国日报) describes it as a Hakka (客家) pastry whose soft, elastic texture has made it popular across Guangdong.

How it is eaten

In Longchuan the cake is sold everywhere, and at festivals many people take it as a gift when visiting relatives and friends. It is packaged as a local souvenir, and producers have added new flavours such as cranberry alongside the original.