“Eat in Guangdong, taste in Chaoshan.” The biggest attraction of Chaoshan area to foreign tourists is its food.

As a Chaoshan native, whenever I talk about food with friends from other places, I find that my friends’ understanding of Chaoshan food is always limited to beef balls, beef hot pot, and even more enriched, braised goose and seafood.

Chaoshan people have become famous for eating beef and have made Chaoshan circles famous. However, few people pay attention to the Chaoshan delicacy that really occupies the daily life of Chaoshan people. It is Kueh.

For outsiders, Chaoshan Kueh is not as famous as Chaoshan Beef Hotpot; for Chaoshan people, it is not surprising that Kueh is an everyday delicacy and snack on the table.

But if we really talk about the food culture of Chaoshan, we can’t do it without Kueh.

In other words, Kueh occupies half of Chaoshan cuisine. If you come for Chaoshan food but don’t try Chaoshan Kueh, your trip will be in vain.

Kueh, in a broad sense, Chaoshan Kueh refers to non-staple food made from rice, wheat and other grains. Most of them are fried and steamed snacks. Later, many other Chaoshan snacks were also generally called Kueh, such as with

Jelly similar to Guiling paste is called Cao Kueh in Chaoshan area.

Kueh in the narrow sense originally refers to rice products only.

In the "Kangxi Dictionary", "粿" is defined as "pure rice and rice food".

Chaoshan people are good at eating Kueh, which is inseparable from the environment in which it lives.

Chinese people’s eating habits are closely related to agricultural production and development.

Chaoshan is located on the edge of the southeastern hills of my country. The terrain slopes from north and northwest to south and southeast, with the Tropic of Cancer running through its center.

The Chaoshan Plain is located in the Hanjiang Delta and is the second largest plain in Guangdong Province, covering an area of ??more than 4,000 square kilometers.

Chaoshan is located in a subtropical monsoon climate zone, with fertile land, suitable climate, and abundant rice production. Rice has naturally become the dominant food on Chaoshan people's tables.

But how did rice evolve into rice cakes and become widely popular in Chaoshan area?

This starts with the history of Chaoshan.

Since ancient times, due to wars and economic impacts, the population of the Central Plains has migrated southward many times.

The ancestors of Chaoshan came to the fertile land of Chaoshan Plain during their migration southward, and brought many customs from the Central Plains to the Chaoshan Plain.

The Central Plains attaches great importance to sacrifices. Zhang Heng said in "Tokyo Fu": "Xian Yong Ji Zong's surviving master, the sacrifices will not stop." Tang Zhen, a thinker in the Qing Dynasty, also mentioned in "Qianshu·Yougui": "The sacrifices made with sesame seeds are the most important thing."

Death." It is a tradition in the Central Plains to offer delicious food to ancestors.

The traditional sacrifices in the Central Plains are mainly pasta. Chaoshan area does not produce wheat, so they use rice instead of wheat and rice instead of pasta according to local conditions.

Rice is ground into sticky rice flour with different ratios of potato starch and glutinous rice. It can also be shaped like dough into various "fruits" required for sacrifices. Since the main ingredient is rice, "rice" is used as the side ingredient.

, with the word "粿" to describe this type of sacrificial food.

The Chaoshan Plain has a large population, little arable land, and frequent natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes. Therefore, most Chaoshan people have to seek development from the sea.

In addition to developing fisheries, Chaoshan people relied on their hard-working spirit to sail to the Southeast Asia on red-headed boats.

The sea is dangerous and the journey is long. Chaoshan people who go to Southeast Asia to make a living often don’t know when they will be reunited with their relatives.

Rice cakes made from rice are easier to preserve. As food, cakes can not only satisfy the hunger, but also contain Chaoshan people’s beautiful vision for life and blessings for their loved ones.

When Chaoshan people travel far away from home, they will bring the rice cakes prepared at home as dry food.

To this day, Kueh is still one of the best gifts for Chaoshan people. Whether it is to honor gods and ancestors, weddings or funerals, or in daily life, Chaoshan people cannot do without Kueh.

How many Kueh are there in Chaoshan?

It is no exaggeration to say that most of Chaoshan’s delicacies are dominated by Kueh!

There are so many kinds of Kueh in Chaoshan, perhaps even they themselves can’t count them.

When Chaoshan people eat rice cakes, they follow the eight festivals of the year.

What are the Eight Festivals of the Year?

In the Chaoshan area, the eight most important festivals of the year are regarded as the Sundays of sacrifice. The eight festivals are: Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhongyuan Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Winter Solstice, and New Year's Eve.

In addition to the Eight Festivals, on the first and fifteenth day of every month, gods are also worshiped. Kueh is an indispensable tribute in the Eight Festivals.

Different festivals and different seasons give rise to different kinds of cakes.

In the past, every household in Chaoshan had to make their own rice cakes for sacrifices, so Chaoshan people ate various rice cakes almost continuously throughout the year.

In the Chaoshan area, what kind of cakes are eaten at any time and what kind of cakes are eaten in season? Everything is arranged clearly and in an orderly manner.

The most photographed dish in Chaoshan festivals is the red peach cake. It looks like a longevity peach and is brightly colored, symbolizing life and beauty. It can be seen on the dinner table before and after the Spring Festival.

When making the red peach cake, red yeast rice is added to the rice flour, and the kneaded cake has a bright pink color.