Pounded Glutinous Rice Cakes 糍粑
Pounded Glutinous Rice Cakes is featured among the local specialties of Hubei.
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Pounded Glutinous Rice Cakes (糍粑) are a traditional New Year food in Huangpi (黄陂), Wuhan (武汉). In Liwensan Village (李文三村), relatives and neighbours gather to turn freshly steamed glutinous rice into a sticky, resilient mass with wooden mallets.
How it is made
The hot rice goes into a stone mortar. Working in groups of four, villagers first press it gently, then increase the force of their blows. They must coordinate their movements and pound while the rice is still hot. In February 2024, Huangpi District Government described the separate grains becoming one mass in six or seven minutes. Villagers sing a rhythmic blessing song as they work.
How it is eaten
Some eat the newly pounded rice immediately, dipping it in white sugar. The cakes can also be pan-fried or boiled. Villager Li Xiaoming (李小明) describes the handmade version as especially soft and chewy; for him, the season of making and eating ciba marks the arrival of the New Year. The cakes carry associations of reunion and sweetness.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.