MUZIChinese Matrix
Rice Snacks · FFET10193
A white rice cake of late-ripening japonica rice ground wet, steamed and pounded, usually sliced and stir-fried with pork and greens or cooked in soup.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds glossy light-brown sauce coating white rice cake slices, pork loin, brown shiitake mushrooms and pale green baby bok choy, with a pair of wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Cakes and snacks made from rice and rice flour.
Ningbo nian gao is a white rice cake made from late-ripening japonica rice that is soaked, ground wet, steamed, pounded and shaped, and it is usually sliced and stir-fried with pork and greens or cooked in soup. In 2022, Cicheng in Ningbo was known as the home of nian gao. The name sounds like higher year, so eating it at New Year carries a wish for a better year to come. No dated original text was found for this entry.
Ningbo nian gao is a white, smooth rice cake in strips or slices, made from late-ripening japonica rice ground with water, and it is usually sliced and stir-fried with pork and greens or cooked in soup.1,2,3,4
Nian gao is a New Year food. A 2022 article quotes the Qing gazetteer Taoyuan xiang zhi saying Lianghu rice can be made into nian gao; the gazetteer was not consulted and no dated original text was found for this entry, so this second-hand account cannot establish a date.1,2,3,4
Ningbo nian gao comes from Ningbo in Zhejiang. In 2022, Cicheng in Ningbo was known as the home of nian gao.1,2,3,4
The rice is selected, soaked, ground with water, steamed, pounded and shaped, and the finished cakes are kept soaked in ceramic vats. Home preparations include stir-frying the slices with pork, shiitake and bok choy, or making Ningbo-style rice cake soup.1,2,5,6
The name nian gao sounds like higher year, so eating it at New Year carries a wish for a better year to come.3
Legend has it that during a siege Wu Zixu told his aides to dig at a city gate, and they found bricks made of rice flour. The habit of eating nian gao at New Year in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang area is said to come from this.
Told in: A tale of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang area, told in the Chinese Wikipedia article on nian gao as a story behind the New Year habit; it speaks of the area in general and not of Ningbo in particular.
Legend has it that before New Year people offer sticky nian gao to the Kitchen God so that his mouth sticks shut, and he cannot speak ill of the family when he reports to the Jade Emperor.
Told in: A New Year folk tale, told in the English Wikipedia article on nian gao, which records it as a legend and gives no dated source.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the Ningbo-style stir-fried nian gao I make at home, with a little water added to soften it. I looked at two published recipes: a stir-fried nian gao whose author says the dish comes from Ningbo, which is just her own statement, and a Ningbo-style rice cake soup. I take the stir-fry method; the soaking time for the slices, the marinating time and the amount of pork follow the stir-fry recipe, while simmering the cakes in a little water until soft borrows from the soup recipe. The other amounts and the heat are my own choices at home.
Allergens: soy, wheat, sesame
