The first step is ingredients: the raw materials for making rice cakes are mainly glutinous rice and late japonica rice, which are collectively called "rice cakes". The taste and storage time of rice cakes have a great relationship with the proportion of rice cakes. First, rice cakes should be mixed together in a certain proportion, and the two kinds of rice should be mixed evenly as far as possible. The ratio of glutinous rice to late japonica rice is usually 3:7, so the rice cake produced by this ratio is not glutinous, sticky, delicious and has a long storage time. Some are made according to the ratio of 4: 6, but the rice cakes made in this way are often too waxy and easy to stick to their mouths. And the storage time is not long. In addition to glutinous rice cakes, there are millet cakes and corn cakes, but these are usually made by families with difficult families and food shortages.

The second step is rice washing: the next step is to wash the mixed rice cakes, which is called "rice washing". Washing rice is a key link, and it is necessary to master a moderate degree. If rice is soaked in water for too long, it will easily lead to too long "head". Rice with too long "water head" is easy to stick to the belly when grinding, and it will also stick to the mortar when making rice cakes. The rice cakes made from it are not stored for a long time and are easy to deteriorate. This process is generally completed by two people, one of whom pours rice into a bucket or water tank and soaks it for about 10 minutes, and then stirs it by hand or other tools to make the rice fully absorb water; Another person washes the rice cake soaked in water in river water or pond water, removes impurities, and pours it into a prepared foot basket to dry by itself.

The third step is grinding: the tool used for grinding is a stone mill, which is composed of two circular stones, and the mating surface is chiseled with a tooth chisel. The lower fan is fixed on the grinder, and the upper fan can make a circular motion with the grinding center in the middle of the lower fan as the center. Grinding rice cake powder is a very hard job. In the past, because there were few grinders and time was tight, it was necessary to work overtime day and night to finish grinding rice noodles of dozens of families in a few days. Therefore, every milling time, farmers often asked several helpers to start grinding all night. It takes at least four people to open a pair of grinders, one to add grinding (also called feeding grinding) and three to push grinding in turn. The grinder stands in front of the stone mill, constantly adding rice grains from the feed hole, and controlling the thickness of the powder by adjusting the amount of rice added at the feed inlet. The other three people take turns to go into battle and hold the grinding handle, and push the stone mill to make a circular motion clockwise to complete the grinding process. The ground flour should not be too coarse or too fine. If it is too fine, it will "close the steaming" when steaming the flour (that is, the rice flour sticks to the steaming pot, and the hot air won't come up, so the rice flour is not easy to steam thoroughly). If it is too thick, it will affect the taste of the rice cake.

The fourth step is steaming: that is, pouring the ground rice flour into a steaming bucket for cooking, so as to make it mature. This is the procedure with the highest technical requirements and the most prone to problems in the process of making rice cakes, which is usually performed by experienced experts in this field, and people usually call them "steaming people". Steam watchers must master the operation sequence skillfully, grasp the temperature of steam at any time, and timely perceive the raw and cooked degree of rice noodles. The process of steaming rice flour is to put the rice flour into a box made of wood or plastic, add cold water and stir it into a dough with a diameter of about 1 1.2 cm. The amount of water added is determined according to the content ratio of two kinds of rice in the rice cake powder. If there is less glutinous rice, more water will be added, otherwise, less water will be added. Next, spread the dough slowly on the steamer in the steamer. A gauze or grass "steamed rice handkerchief" will be placed on the steamer in advance, and a handful of salt will be sprinkled at the same time, which can prevent rice noodles from leaking into the pot and prolong the storage time of rice cakes. When the dough is covered with steamed rice, slowly and gently pour the remaining powder into the steaming bucket. Under normal circumstances, it takes 7-8 minutes to steam a bucket of powder.

The fifth step is to make cakes: when all the rice noodles in the steaming bucket are steamed (so-called "round steaming"), they can be put into a stone mortar to make rice cakes. This is the last process of making rice cakes, and it is also the most labor-intensive process, so it needs the cooperation of many people to complete it. Generally, a team consists of six or seven people, two of whom take turns steaming and the others take turns making cakes. The so-called steaming means that a person sits in front of a stone mortar and constantly flips the cake dough in the stone mortar. Because the powder dough that has just been cooked is very hot, it is easy to stick to the stone mortar and can't be pulled up, so the steaming person should be very quick. The hammer for making rice cakes is made of sandalwood or ham, weighing up to 40 Jin, so people who participate in making rice cakes require more strength. When the steamed rice noodles are thrown upside down in the stone mortar, some salt should be sprinkled in the stone mortar to prevent the mortar from sticking. First, gently flatten the cooked flour with a hammer (splash-proof), and then start to beat the cake hard. When the hammer was lifted, the steamer quickly leaned down, pulled a handful of dough in the mortar with both hands and filled the nest made by the hammer. Beat it repeatedly like this, but also constantly wipe some water on the dough until the rice cake is thoroughly beaten and tough. The time for steaming rice cakes is synchronized with the time for steaming powder, which usually takes seven or eight minutes. When the rice cake is about to come out of the mortar, the steamed rice cake will be made into a mushroom shape. When the steamed rice cake is called "round steaming", it will be immediately taken out of the mortar and placed on the cake making board. The rice cake will be pressed into the shape of a big gong with both hands, with a diameter of about 50 cm and a thickness of about 3 cm. After the rice cake is pressed and shaped, put some cooking oil on it to make the surface smoother and more delicate. The first piece of rice cake made should be written with a red "yuan" with a brush, which means "round and round".

The sixth step is to cut and soak the cake: after the rice cake is made, it is necessary to cut and soak the cake. The rice cake to be spread and cooled in the mat is completely

After cooling, you can cut the cake. Cutting rice cakes is also exquisite. First, you have to cut the one with the word "Yuan" written on it. In the "Yuan" rice cake, you have to cut two square rice cakes about12x12cm, which are used as New Year's greetings, and the rest are cut into strips. Frozen rice cakes will affect the storage time and are easy to deteriorate and taste, so it is necessary to arrange and pile up the cut rice cakes and cover them with thin sheets, old clothes or hemp fiber to prevent freezing. The rice cake can be put into the jar and stored in water after drying in the shade for about a week. The water for soaking rice cakes is also very particular, so we must soak rice cakes in winter. Winter water, that is, the water before beginning of spring, is used to soak rice cakes in winter, which is not easy to deteriorate and will last for a long time, while the spring water soaked rice cakes after beginning of spring will not last for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to budget the time when making rice cakes, and let them go into the water before beginning of spring. The surface of the jar soaked in rice cakes should be covered with bamboo plaques to prevent sundries and pests from falling into it. When the rice cake is stored in the jar for a long time, a layer of white foam will appear on the water surface, and some sediments will accumulate around the jar. At this time, it is necessary to change the water for the rice cake jar to keep the water quality clean.