Nian Gao

"Nian Gao"

(Hainan 2006)

On the morning of 10 Nov 2006, I was told that there were Nian Gao waiting to be cut. If I could translate accurately, Nian Gao is a kind of glutinous rice-cake. To the best of my understanding, a literal translation of Nian Gao would be "to rise with every year". With such a good name, no wonder that it is usually a must-have item for Chinese during the Chinese New Year and every joyous occasion.

That was the first time that I saw such a large piece of Nian Gao. I have no idea how one is ever going to eat such a huge piece of it. Later, my parents told me that whenever someone in the village celebrates a joyous occasion, Nian Gao would be ordered, cut and distributed amongst all the households in the village. I heard that there were about thirty households in the village.

I heard from my mother that if any household were to be left out, the folks in that household would feel unhappy. My father said that if a household were to be left out, those folks would think that the household that hosts the celebration was looking down on their household.

I would like to look at the distribution of Nian Gao as a custom that has some kind of social functions. It ensures that no one in the village would be left out. It encourages sharing and mutual responsibility among the villagers. Admittedly, there is a form of social pressure present in such kinds of custom. However, I suppose it does serve a function to remind everyone in the villager to make sure that no one is being left out?

The biggest question on my mind then was: How to cut the large Nian Gao such that there would be enough portions to share with the entire village?

Glutinous rice-cakes are actually very sticky. My mother told me that if knife were used, the blades of the knife would turn sticky and would not give a clean and neat cut.

But if you were to look at the photo right below, you would find the answer to my question.





Use a long piece of thread!

The steps are as follow:
Since the Nian Gao is such a big piece, the task of cutting the Nian Gao would usually require the involvement of two persons.

First place the thread right above the Nian Gao. Next, flip the Nian Gao to the other side. When this happens, the Nian Gao would be resting on the thread. Afterwhich, each person from each end of the thread would carefully pull the thread in such a way that the thread slices through the Nian Gao. Presto! We have cut the Nian Gao. Continue until the desired size and portions are obtained.





I don't usually like Nian Gao but I tried one piece of it anyway. It had a light sweet taste to it. It was not too sticky, and had a nice chewy texture to it. I like it, but one piece shall be enough. Yummy.