Bamboo rice • Banana rice • Mochi • Bird’s nest fern I three ways

short-grain sticky rice, bamboo tubes, banana leaves, cotton string

1. Wash the sticky rice and soak it in clean water overnight. The sticky rice must absorb water in order to taste good.

2. Cut the makino bamboo poles we brought down from the mountains into segments, wash, and drain dry. When we asked Uncle He of the community to bring us up into the mountains for the bamboo, Uncle He told us that the makino bamboo used for making bamboo rice is usually around a year old, with a diameter of around 3 to 4 centimeters.

3. Stuff the soaked sticky rice into the bamboo tubes until about nine tenths full, add a little water, then seal the open end with banana leaves and cotton string. Nowadays, people sometimes choose to use heat-resistant bags and elastic bands because it is more convenient.

4. Neatly arrange the bamboo rice tubes into a large pot, fill the pot up to about nine tenths full, then put the lid on, let it cook for one to two hours, and there you have delicious bamboo rice.

5. How do you eat the fragrant sticky rice that’s encased within the bamboo tube? There’s a trick to that too! Ms. Li-lian Wang taught us to hold the open end of the tube, knock the other end with the closed knot on the ground, and it will naturally break into two halves, allowing you to access the rice inside. Ms. Li-Lian Wang also told us not to remove the piece of banana leaf that’s wrapped around the open end of the tube, that way the contents of the tube will not fall out.

6. The bamboo rice that we’ve extricated from the tube is covered with a thin film of bamboo substance, and is non-sticky and easy to hold. The rice smells light fragrant of bamboo, and if you chew it slowly in your mouth, you can taste the sweetness of both the bamboo and the rice. Bamboo rice can be easily carried around, and provided a good filling meal just by itself or as an accompaniment for the people who used to hunt or work high up in the mountains.[up]

1. How much bamboo stalk do you need for making bamboo rice? What kind of bamboo do you use? How long do the tubes need to be? How do you cut the bamboo stalks?

If you want some bamboo rice, the first thing you have to do is get ready some tubes of bamboo. It depends on how many people you need to feed, but you can always prepare a little extra, in case some people ask for more.

We mostly use the makino bamboo, try to choose bamboo stalks that are neither too thick nor too thin. The bamboo have knots at different places in their stalks, so the tubes will turn out to have different lengths. You must cut the bamboo so that one end is open, while the other is closed up by the knot inside, then you can fill the tube up from the open end.

2. How many kilograms of rice do you need for bamboo rice? What kind of rice do you use? How do you prepare the rice for cooking?

The amount of rice you need also depends on how many people you’re cooking for, but 3 liters of rice can be made into roughly 50 tubes. Most bamboo rice is made with sticky rice. You must wash and then soak the rice for at least 4 hours before cooking it. 

3. What kind of leaf do you use? Do you need to prepare the leaves in advance? (e.g. soaking)

Traditionally, we use banana leaves, its main purpose is to wrap up the open end of the bamboo tube, although nowadays we don’t use leaves much anymore, but use small plastic bags instead.

The leaves must be washed, blanched, then cut into pieces just large enough to cover the open end of the tubes (around 5cmx5cm).

4. What other details do you need to watch out for when cooking bamboo rice? Do you need to season it?

Traditionally, we stuff the tubes with rice using our hands, because it’s faster that way, but if you’re not in a hurry, you can work with a spoon. Nowadays we usually cook the bamboo rice directly because it’s easier this way, the bamboo is so thick that if we use the steaming method, it would take much longer for the rice to cook through. When cooking bamboo rice, you need to add water to about eight tenths the height of the tubes, be carefully not to submerge the tubes. If in the cooking process the water evaporates, add water accordingly.

5. When do you eat bamboo rice? Are there any people who are not allowed to eat it?

The way to eat bamboo rice is to knock the knotted end on the ground several times until it splits, then break the bamboo open and eat the rice inside.

Traditionally, bamboo rice is eaten at festivals, rituals, or when hunters go hunting in the mountains, and is mostly eaten at lunchtime. Nowadays, you can make it and eat it at festivals or any other time you like. There are no restrictions as to who can eat bamboo rice or not, it’s a common dish, and anyone who feels like it may have some.

 6. What is the origin of bamboo rice?

In the earlier days, when us Truku had to hunt in the mountains, the women of our tribe came up with the idea of carrying rice in bamboo tubes, because back then we had no bento boxes to use. Bamboo rice is not only easy to carry but convenient, you need only to break it open to get at your meal. [up]

Reference:
1. 2011.4.5, Sinbaiyang Cultural Information Club Experimental Course Process (Bamboo Rice)

2. Jianching Village, Wanrong Township, Hualien County. Interviewee: Ms. Li-lan Wang, Ms. Xiu-shu Wen, Date of Interview: 2011.5.26