China's Sticky Rice Capital: 10,000 Ways to Feast on Glutinous Goodness!

No one understands glutinous rice better than the people of Zhejiang.

Here, glutinous rice delights appear in every season and at every meal. The Lantern Festival brings oily, smooth tangyuan with soft yet springy skins. During Qingming, an array of treats like qingtuan, miancai cakes, malt塌饼, and ai dumplings take turns on the table. Then come the zongzi for Dragon Boat Festival and the Chongyang cakes for the Double Ninth Festival—each dazzling in its own way.

In Zhejiang, glutinous rice can be prepared in countless ways.

Here, it embraces both sweet and savory flavors, wrapping around everything Zhejiang has to offer. Ningbo’s龙凤金团, Lishui’s缙云外前糖糕, and Hangzhou’s桐庐百果糕 showcase its gentle sweetness, while Jiaxing-Huzhou meat zongzi, Wenzhou’s糯米饭, and Quzhou’s糯米灌肠 stun with savory brilliance. Zhejiang people have mastered glutinous rice to perfection, always discovering its tastiest moments and ideal pairings.

Why do Zhejiang people understand glutinous rice so well? Perhaps because of early cultivation, or their meticulous,钻研 approach to everything—glutinous rice being no exception. But more likely, it’s because glutinous rice, though inherently soft, never loses its韧性, whether ground into flour, pounded into dough, or steamed—much like the people of Zhejiang themselves.

Zhejiang people understand glutinous rice as they understand themselves.

Just how many types of tangyuan does Zhejiang have?

In Zhejiang, glutinous rice offers endless possibilities, and tangyuan is just one of them. Yet even this single category holds infinite variety.

To Zhejiang people, there are only two kinds of tangyuan in the world: Zhejiang tangyuan and the rest. This isn’t arrogance but a claim validated nationwide. A 2022 Lantern Festival tangyuan sales report ranked the top three legacy brands as Beijing’s Daoxiangcun, Ningbo’s Gangyagou, and Jiaxing’s Wufangzhai—the latter two hailing from Zhejiang.

Ningbo tangyuan features lard-filled centers, delivering a rich, fragrant bite.

Among Zhejiang’s tangyuan, Ningbo’s is the most renowned. While modern varieties abound, locals insist there’s only one true tangyuan: 汤团, filled exclusively with黑洋酥 (a mix of lard and black sesame powder).

Like northeasterners with dumplings, Ningbo families make tangyuan from scratch for holidays and celebrations—never store-bought. Wuqiao-brand glutinous rice flour is kneaded with hot water into wrappers, stuffed with黑洋酥, then boiled with precise timing. The result? Silky-white skins, tender yet chewy, encasing molten black sesame filling that gushes with lardy richness—a perfect marriage of carbs and fat.

Photo / nok_sz, Image / Tuchong Creative

Jiaxing’s tangyuan come in three types: sweet, savory, and unfilled. Sweet versions resemble Ningbo’s, with peanut or black sesame fillings. The savory ones stand out—stuffed with minced pork and shaped like teardrops, pinched at one end.

Locals eat tangyuan at least four times yearly: for Lantern Festival,冬至 (paired with longan-poached eggs),小年夜 (offered to the Kitchen God), and New Year’s (unfilled). These plain tangyuan, boiled and dipped in sugar, celebrate Zhejiang’s confidence in glutinous rice’s pure flavor.

In Jiaxing, tangyuan are always hand-wrapped by grandmothers.

Wenzhou’s油汤圆 are another unfilled variety—fried flat and drenched in a caramelized brown sugar and cooking wine sauce. Pro tip: eat them hot. Another Wenzhou specialty,猪油圆, encases solidified lard within glutinous rice flour, steamed with red dates and rice wine for a doubly intoxicating treat.

Lard-filled tangyuan steamed with rice wine exude sweet, boozy fragrance.

In Zhejiang, tangyuan aren’t just seasonal—they’re breakfast and late-night snacks too. In Jinhua and Quzhou, savory versions bundle seasonal veggies like bamboo shoots, tofu, shepherd’s purse, or radish, seasoned with soy sauce, ginger, and pepper for a软糯咸香 experience.

👈 Swipe left for Quzhou, where even tangyuan get the spicy treatment. Photo / Ye Yinxiao

A bowl of crystal-clear white glutinous rice is the basic form of Zhejiang glutinous rice. Even eaten plain, the subtle sweetness, the aroma of glutinous rice, and the chewy yet not overly sticky texture are already enticing enough. But how could the food-loving and inventive people of Zhejiang stop there? Thus, various forms of glutinous rice dishes emerged.

In Zhejiang, glutinous rice is not boiled but "steamed." Glutinous rice itself is highly sticky, requiring only soaking and steaming with minimal water. The steamed glutinous rice grains remain distinct, fragrant, and tender, suitable for both savory and sweet pairings, simple or elaborate. It’s not just a breakfast staple but also a festive dish for important celebrations. Every Wenzhou native grows up with a bowl of glutinous rice, though the flavors vary.

For Wenzhou savory glutinous rice, the meat gravy poured over it is the soul.

Some prefer sweet glutinous rice, mixed with lard and sugar, sprinkled with sesame and osmanthus, paired with a bowl of savory soy milk—a source of energy for the day. Others favor savory glutinous rice, drizzled with braised meat sauce, turning the snow-white rice into an alluring brown-yellow. Toppings like pickled mustard, pork floss, mushrooms, and salted egg yolk add crunch, crispiness, and richness, elevating the dish.

If time allows, the best accompaniments for glutinous rice are savory soy milk, sweet tofu pudding, or seaweed and fried dough soup. For those in a hurry, it can be wrapped in a plastic bag as a rice ball. Regardless of flavor or form, crispy fried dough crumbs are essential. Unlike the chewy dough in sticky rice balls, Wenzhou’s version involves double-frying chopped dough for extra crispiness, creating a perfect contrast with the soft rice—a culinary masterpiece.

Sweet glutinous rice with fried dough crumbs.

Glutinous rice isn’t just about sweet or savory; it’s also tied to Zhejiang’s 24 solar terms. On February 2nd, Wenzhou locals eat mustard greens glutinous rice to ward off skin ailments. On March 3rd, the She people in Lishai steam black rice with glutinous rice and young bayberry leaves, praying for a bountiful harvest. On the winter solstice, Jiaxing residents enjoy red bean glutinous rice and longan-stewed eggs to welcome the new year warmly.

She ethnic black rice, steamed with bayberry leaf juice and glutinous rice.

Photo/VCG

In coastal Zhejiang, there’s an extravagant dish: blue crab glutinous rice. When crabs are at their fattest, they’re stir-fried with soaked raw glutinous rice and steamed, infusing the rice with the crab’s richness—a feast for the taste buds.

How Zhejiang glutinous rice redefines Chinese pastries.

Glutinous rice is also a key ingredient in Zhejiang pastries. Zhou Zuoren, in "More on Northern and Southern Pastries," cited Jiahu fine pastries as synonymous with southern treats. These delicacies, mainly from Jiaxing and neighboring Huzhou, include the famous zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

Huzhou’s lard red bean zongzi is sweet, with white glutinous rice wrapping glossy black bean paste mixed with lard and sugar. When steamed, the lard melts into the rice, creating a rich sweetness. Jiaxing’s zongzi are mostly savory, like the soy-braised pork zongzi, a local breakfast favorite beyond the Dragon Boat Festival.

Jiaxing salted egg yolk and pork zongzi—do you prefer sweet or savory?

The refinement of Jiahu pastries reflects Zhejiang’s prosperity. For instance, Xinshi in Huzhou, once among Jiangnan’s top ancient towns, boasts meat-filled tea cakes, a testament to its bustling past and a staple for generations. But Zhejiang’s glutinous rice creations go beyond zongzi and Jiahu. Locals’ ingenuity makes glutinous rice a versatile player, adapting to regional tastes and pairing with any ingredient.

In Taizhou, glutinous rice flour teams up with sweet potato starch to make soft, fragrant, and subtly sweet cakes. Quzhou’s spicy palate inspires glutinous rice sausages—some with rice paste ("jiang bo dai"), others with whole grains ("nuo mi bo dai")—bold innovations unique to Zhejiang.

Quzhou’s Duze sausages, homophonous with "endless" in local dialect.

Outsiders often see Zhejiang natives as shrewd and business-savvy. In truth, they’re simply clever and innovative, turning any hand into a winning one.

Like glutinous rice—seemingly plain yet endlessly versatile.

After reading this, don’t you crave a taste of Zhejiang’s glutinous delights?

Today, Windwu recommends a savory shepherd's purse glutinous rice ball from Zhejiang, made with fresh seasonal shepherd's purse for a light, sweet taste bursting with the flavors of Jiangnan spring. Click the image below to enjoy the same chewy delight as Zhejiang locals without leaving home.

Cover image | Visual China