Glutinous rice cakes

Glutinous rice cakes coated with soybean flour. [Photo/WeChat ID: zjlsly2014]

In Jingning She autonomous county, making glutinous rice cakes is a festival and holiday tradition, especially in the winter. Though the process of hand-pounding glutinous rice cakes is labor-intensive, the resulting cakes are soft, delicate, and incredibly tasty.

The process begins with a stone mortar, a wooden mallet, and hot water. As the cooked glutinous rice is taken out of the pot, it is continuously pounded with the wooden mallet in the stone mortar, filling the air with an increasingly rich aroma of rice.

Through constantly working the dough, the glutinous rice in the mortar gradually becomes sticky, sweet, and chewy. Coated with soybean flour, sesame powder, or brown sugar syrup, it becomes a true delicacy.

Suichang's wind stove feast

The wind stove feast of Suichang county. [Photo/WeChat ID: zjlsly2014]

As the weather turns colder, it's the perfect time to savor the Suichang's wind stove feast – one of the highest forms of hospitality in Suichang county.

Made from clay and fired at high temperatures, the wind stove was initially used for brewing tea but later evolved into a cooking pot.

The uniqueness of the wind stove lies in its special cooking method. Unlike a hot pot, where the food is cooked quickly, the wind stove keeps pre-cooked ingredients simmering over a low flame, so the deeper flavors come out all the way.