New year cake (nian-gao; rise cake; new year cake)

During the Spring Festival, many areas in our country pay attention to eating rice cake. New Year cakes are available in yellow and white colors, symbolizing gold and silver. New Year cakes are also called "Nian Nian cake", which is homophonic with "Nian Nian Gao", which means that people's work and life are improving year by year. Therefore, the ancients wrote a poem about rice cake: "The meaning of rice cake is a little cloudy, white like silver and yellow gold. I look forward to good times and good fortune as I grow older, and I sincerely and silently wish for wealth to come."

History of rice cake:

As a food, rice cake has a long history in China. In 1974, archaeologists discovered plump and well-preserved rice seeds at the Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang, which dates back more than 7,000 years. Rice cultivation has begun. People in the Han Dynasty called rice cakes "rice cake", "bait", "獍" and so on. The title "cake" already existed in Yang Xiong's "Dialect" in the Han Dynasty, and it became popular in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The ancients also had a development process in the production of rice cakes from rice cakes to powder cakes. The cookbook "Shici" from the sixth century AD contains the method of making rice cake "white cocoon sugar", "Cook the cooked rice and heat it in a pestle and mortar, then pound it into rice cakes. It must be cooked very well. Do not let it cook." There are rice grains..." After the glutinous rice is steamed, it is pounded into rice while it is hot, then cut into peach pit sizes, dried and fried, rolled in sugar and ready to eat. As early as the Liao Dynasty, it is said that every family in Beijing had the custom of eating rice cakes on the first day of the first lunar month. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, rice cake had developed into a snack available all year round on the market, with different flavors from the north to the south.

The legend of rice cake:

It is said that rice cake is spread from Suzhou. There is a legend about its origin: It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu helped Helu seize the throne of the King of Wu, and helped him practice martial arts throughout the year to strengthen the country. However, later Helu was so satisfied that he ordered Wu Zixu to build the "Great City of Helu" "To show his merit.

After the city wall was completed, King Wu held a feast to celebrate. During the banquet, the officials indulged in wine and merriment, thinking that with a strong city, they could sit back and relax. Seeing this scene, Prime Minister Wu Zixu was deeply worried. He called his personal entourage and told him: "The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty now believe that high walls can protect the peace of Wu. Although the city walls can resist enemy soldiers, the people inside will also be restrained if they want to go out. If the enemy surrounds them without fighting, Isn't the state of Wu trapped in a cocoon? If I forget about it, it will lead to disaster. If something happens to me and the state of Wu is trapped and there is no food, you can go dig three feet under Xiangmen City to get food." The followers thought that Wu Zixu had drunk too much wine, so he didn't take it seriously.

Not long after, King Helu of Wu died, and Fu Chai succeeded to the throne. He believed the slander, and Wu Zixu tried his best to admonish King Wu for rejecting the peace proposal of King Gou Jian of Yue Kingdom. He was despised and sentenced to death. After Wu Zixu committed suicide, King Gou Jian of Yue sent troops to attack Wu and surrounded Gusu City, the capital of the Wu Kingdom. The Wu army was trapped in the city, with no cooking or food supplies, and the cries of women and children in the streets were unbearable. At this time, the attendant remembered Wu Zixu's previous instructions, and hurriedly summoned the neighbors to dig in the ground outside Xiangmen to collect food. When they dug three feet deep under the city wall, they discovered that the city bricks were made of glutinous rice flour. Suddenly people were so excited that they knelt down towards the city wall and thanked Wu Zixu. These glutinous rice noodles saved the people in the city. So under the auspices of Wu Zixu's family, they distributed it to the hungry people in the city, and everyone temporarily survived the famine. Suzhou people admired Wu Zixu’s spirit of patriotism and concern for the people. From then on, they would prepare rice cakes every winter in the twelfth lunar month, not only to express their memory of Wu Zixu, but also to share them with relatives and friends during the Spring Festival when the old year was gone and the new year was coming. Therefore, the shape of Suzhou rice cake is similar to city bricks, and it is not greasy after cooking, does not crack after drying, and does not deteriorate after being stored for a long time.