At the table
If buying a whole chilled log, slice crosswise and reheat until soft. Eat small pieces with chopsticks; use a spoon for the sweet soup version.
Chewy rice cake can be difficult to swallow in large pieces. Ask about the coloring used. Rice-wine versions contain fermented rice and are not guaranteed alcohol-free.
Patterns and colorings vary. The selected radish-colored cake is plain; a common sweet serving simmers slices with sweet fermented rice and sugar.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
Patterns and colorings vary. The selected radish-colored cake is plain; a common sweet serving simmers slices with sweet fermented rice and sugar.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Mild rice fragrance when plain; sweet rice-wine soup adds sweetness and fermentation aroma.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- Dense, smooth and chewy; reheating softens the slices.
- How it’s made
- Soak glutinous and ordinary japonica rice in a roughly 2:1 ratio and mill them. Cook part of the flour with water, knead with the rest, color part with extract from red-fleshed radish, arrange and roll patterns into a log, steam and cool. Slice and reheat before eating.
Patterns and colorings vary. The selected radish-colored cake is plain; a common sweet serving simmers slices with sweet fermented rice and sugar.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Guizhou.
About this regional connection
Guizhou: 思南年节米食，卷叠构成贯穿糕体的花纹。
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有思南花甜粑吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
Patterns inside a New Year rice cake
This account describes a tradition or story, rather than an established historical fact.
In Sinan, makers build colored designs inside the rice dough rather than decorating only the outside. Slicing reveals repeated flowers or auspicious motifs, making the cake a traditional New Year gift and shared food.