Why do we eat glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice? The nutritional value of glutinous rice cakes

People in Sichuan make glutinous rice cakes before the Mid-Autumn Festival, which symbolizes harvest, happiness and reunion. It is a must-have delicacy for the Mid-Autumn Festival, as famous as mooncakes. Adding sweet osmanthus to glutinous rice cakes to make laurel glutinous rice cakes has a light and elegant taste, sweet and refreshing, and a unique flavor. Wrapping cooked red beans in glutinous rice cakes makes red bean oil glutinous rice cakes, which have excellent color, fragrance and taste. Those who are greedy will drool, come and have a look!

Contents of this article

1. Why do we eat glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice?

2. Nutritional value of glutinous rice cake

3. Some knowledge about glutinous rice cake

Why do we eat glutinous rice cakes during the winter solstice?

In some places in the south, there is a custom of eating glutinous rice cakes in the tenth month of the lunar calendar. In ancient times, glutinous rice cakes were traditional festival offerings in the south, and were originally used by farmers to offer sacrifices to the cow god. There is a saying "In the tenth month, glutinous rice cakes are burned", which refers to the sacrificial event.

Legend has it that in the past, when the hardworking cows saw people happily eating glutinous rice cakes, they shed tears silently. When people saw the cows crying, they hurriedly gave the glutinous rice cakes in their hands to the cows, made two big glutinous rice cakes, hung them on the cows' horns, and led the cows to the waterside to look in the mirror. When the cows saw the glutinous rice cakes on their horns, they smiled happily.

In order to express people's gratitude to the cows for their hard work, people would give some glutinous rice cakes to the cows every year. Later, people designated the beginning of the tenth month of the lunar calendar as the "Cow King Festival", and the custom of making glutinous rice cakes to honor cows has been passed down.

Nutritional value of glutinous rice cake

People in most regions are used to making glutinous rice cakes in the twelfth lunar month. In the Hakka region of Meizhou, it is made during traditional festivals or family celebrations; people in Sichuan make it before the Mid-Autumn Festival, symbolizing harvest, celebration and reunion, and it is a must-have delicacy for the Mid-Autumn Festival and mooncakes. In some places in Sichuan, osmanthus is added to glutinous rice cakes to make laurel glutinous rice cakes, which are dipped in fried soybean flour and sugar. The taste is elegant, sweet and refreshing, with a unique flavor. In other places, cooked red beans and other bean products are wrapped in hot glutinous rice cakes, and appropriate amounts of salt are added. They are cut into oval pieces and fried in cooked vegetable oil. The red bean oil glutinous rice cakes are excellent in color, fragrance and taste. People in Hubei are also used to making glutinous rice cakes in the twelfth lunar month, cutting them into long strips for storage, and then cutting them into slices when they are eaten.

Little knowledge about glutinous rice cake

Hakka people generally have the habit of eating glutinous rice cakes, whether on ordinary days or during festivals. Generally, glutinous rice flour is boiled into a paste, then rolled into long strips by hand, cut with a knife or picked into large pieces by hand, and then mixed with white sugar (brown sugar) and peanuts, and the glutinous rice cake is ready. However, in the Hakka mountainous areas of Jiexi, Wuhua, Luhe, and Lufeng, there is another method of making glutinous rice cakes, called "beating glutinous rice cakes". Its production process is: first steam the glutinous rice and put it in a stone mortar, then use a large wooden stick to repeatedly pound the mortar until the glutinous rice is pounded into a paste. This process often requires several strong people to take turns to operate. The subsequent method is the same as the previous method of making glutinous rice cakes. This method of making glutinous rice cakes takes too much effort, so it is called "beating glutinous rice cakes". But it tastes much better than the previous glutinous rice cakes, so people like "beating glutinous rice cakes".