Finished dish photo of Black Rice

Black Rice

Tomorrow marks the beginning of summer. Different regions have unique traditions for the start of summer. What traditions does Hangzhou have? For people in Hangzhou, the start of summer is inseparable from black rice and black rice cakes. As the saying goes: eating black rice prevents mosquito bites. Additionally, it is said that eating it also reduces the chances of getting heatstroke.

Ingredients

Black Tree Leaves250g
Glutinous Rice500g
Water250ml
Black RiceCooked
Cooked Black Rice, Peas, Bamboo Shoots, Salted Meatto taste

Steps

1

Pick out the twigs and old leaves from the black tree leaves and clean thoroughly. Place them in a blender, add water, and blend.

undefined 1
Click to enlarge
2

Pour into a large bowl and leave for half an hour, occasionally rubbing it with your hands.

undefined 2
Click to enlarge
3

Filter the juice from the black leaves using a sieve.

undefined 3
Click to enlarge
4

Rinse the glutinous rice, then soak it in the black leaf juice and refrigerate overnight.

undefined 4
Click to enlarge
5

For the soaked glutinous rice, drain the excess juice (the juice should barely cover the rice).

undefined 5
Click to enlarge
6

Steam the rice in a pot over water for about 30 minutes until fully cooked.

undefined 6
Click to enlarge
7

Blanch the peas and bamboo shoots in boiling water. Soak the salted meat for half an hour to remove saltiness, then dice into small pieces.

undefined 7
Click to enlarge
8

Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry the salted meat until it changes color. Add the diced bamboo shoots and peas, and stir-fry briefly.

undefined 8
Click to enlarge
9

Add the cooked black rice and stir-fry evenly.

undefined 9
Click to enlarge

Cooking Tips

1. When placing black tree leaves into the blender, do it in batches as adding too much at once can be difficult to operate. 2. The freshly blended juice is green; let it sit for a while to slowly turn dark green with a hint of golden yellow. Rubbing it with your hands can speed up the color change, but wear disposable gloves, or the juice will stain your hands. 3. When soaking the glutinous rice in black leaf juice overnight, it is better to refrigerate it due to the hot weather nowadays.