Huangyuan rice fruit was originally processed from rice. It is yellow, fragrant and soft. After 1960s, refined japonica rice was mainly used, and the processing process was complicated. Now all the parts are made by machines, and Huangyuan rice fruit will be listed in the twelfth lunar month every year. To make Huangyuan rice fruit, firstly filter it into grey water with Huangyuan firewood ash and boiling water, then cool the rice and soak it overnight, steam it into rice with retort the next day, then mix the rice with grey water, spread it out to dry, steam it, put it into a big mortar, mash it into balls with a hard wooden stick, rub it evenly by hand and cut it into various shapes of rice fruit. Because of the tedious work, it is often necessary to help relatives and friends before starting work. After the popularization of machine-made yellow rice fruits, there are still a few families who make yellow rice fruits by hand in winter. The prepared yellow rice fruit is yellow and delicious, usually soaked in gray water and hidden in a jar, which can be preserved until the next summer. Some are chopped and dried, and then fried with sand or sleeves to make various types of fruits. It has the characteristics of soft, delicious, fresh smell and long shelf life.

Yellow rice fruit is golden and delicious, also known as "yellow rice fruit", "yellow hairpin" and "yellow cake". It originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Ming Dynasty. It is a Hakka specialty snack. Gannan, eastern Guangdong, western Fujian, Taiwan Province Province and scattered Hakka areas all have the tradition of making edible yellow rice fruits. Huangyuan rice fruit is somewhat similar to the rice cake in the north, but in terms of appearance and color, the former is as golden as its name, while the latter is white; In taste, the former is rich in flavor and the latter is light; In the production process, Huangyuan rice fruit is much more complicated than rice cake. After the autumn harvest every year, Hakkas begin to prepare. First, they should prepare many branches and leaves of Vitex negundo (a medicinal shrub widely distributed in southern Jiangxi) to dry, then burn them to obtain ashes, and then filter them into "grey water", that is, alkaline water. Then take japonica rice and glutinous rice, add appropriate amount of Gardenia, and soak them in gray water. The best rice for making yellow rice fruit is "Dahe rice", but few people grow Dahe rice, so a certain proportion of japonica rice and glutinous rice are improved and used instead. Here I want to focus on Gardenia. Gardenia is an evergreen shrub. Because of its fragrant flowers, it has been cultivated as a courtyard greening variety in many places. Gardenia can be used for cooking, and its mature dried fruit is traditional Chinese medicine. Gardenia jasminoides Ellis is a kind of natural pigment besides medicine. Gardenia yellow is a natural pigment extracted from dried gardenia fruit, which is the secret of the unique golden color of Huangyuan rice fruit. Earlier, this plant was rarely cultivated artificially. If villagers meet gardenia trees in Shan Ye, they will cherish and remember the address, and pick this rare gardenia when the fruit is ripe. Without this opportunity, they will have to spend money to buy it. Besides being used as glutinous rice fruit, many Hakka traditional handmade foods need to be dyed with it. However, with the development of the times, although there are many places where gardenia tree is cultivated artificially, how can it be more easily obtained and cheaper than chemically synthesized pigments? This natural pigment is slowly forgotten.

Soak the natural pigment gardenia in this "grey water" and gardenia water for one day, and the rice will swell into golden yellow, pour it into a big retort and steam it into rice with high fire. Daban is a steamed rice utensil made by hand with Chinese fir for carpentry. It was a necessary daily appliance for Hakka people in the past, but it is rarely seen in modern life. If you cook so many meters, you must use this antique. Mix the cooked rice with grey water, spread it out to dry, steam it again, and then put it in a large stone mortar. At this time of Shijiu, seven or eight strong men invited early in the morning were waiting by. As soon as the rice entered the stone mortar, everyone kept banging around with a special wooden stick. Wooden sticks are usually made of tea sticks. Tea trees have a long growth cycle and hard wood. Just like a stone mortar, a good stick is a family heirloom. After 78 years of beating, rice will become very tough, which is the so-called "glutinous", which is also the reason why Huangyuan rice fruit is very tough. Put the pastry on the chopping board and knead it evenly into a cylinder by hand. Don't use a knife, but separate the yellow glutinous rice preserves about five or six centimeters thick with thin lines, and then arrange them by hand, so that round or oval Huang Chengcheng and golden glutinous rice preserves are made.

Let's work together to make yellow rice fruit. The processed yellow rice fruit is yellow, tender, thin and greasy, and can be made into soup, steamed, fried or fried. I don't touch my teeth, I'm not tired of people, I still want to eat after eating, and my aftertaste is endless. Rice fruit can be preserved for dozens of days without deterioration. If you want to keep it for a longer time, you can soak it in an alkaline jar for a year and a half without deterioration and taste change, and you can take it out at any time, which is very convenient and fresh as ever. The food culture of China Huangyuan Miguo has a long history, and Hakka food culture is one of the treasures. While exploring innovation, we should keep its essence. Only in this way can our food culture go back to ancient times.