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

Bananas, sugar, banana leaves, cotton string

1. Rinse the short-grain sticky rice, soak it in water overnight so that the rice absorbs water and becomes tasty.

2. Cut the banana leaves into 20 cm squares, rinse them clean and scrub away any dirt that’s on the leaves, but be careful not to tear them!

3. Lightly blanch the clean banana leaves in boiling water, just until they change color, then remove them from the pot and rinse in cold water. We asked Ms. Li-lian Wang why the banana leaves had to be boiled, and she told us that blanched banana leaves tear less easily when we wrap the inside them.

4. Drain the soaked sticky rice dry, add peeled bananas, sugar, and knead them all together. This is part that’s most fun, because everyone wanted to try their hands at it, so the mixture was kneaded together very quickly. Ms. Li-lian Wang told us, if we are using 3 liters of rice, then we would need about 20 bananas. The bananas used in banana rice should be as ripe as possible so that they provide a strong banana fragrance.

5. Place the banana rice mixture onto the blanched leaves, roll them into long rolls, and tie up either end with cotton string. Roll up the rice along the veins of the banana leaves so that they tear less easily.

6. Put the rolls of banana rice in the steamer for 1 to 2 hours, and it will be ready for eating.

7. There’s a trick to eating banana rice too, which is simply to remove the string off one end, then peel away the leaf just as you would peel banana skin, and the chewy fragrant banana rice is ready for your enjoyment. Banana rice is great to eat either hot or cold! [up]

1. How many liters of rice do you need to make banana rice? What kind of rice do you use? What preparations have to be made for the rice?

In terms of liters of rice, it depends on how many people there are, for example 1 liter of rice would be needed for 10 people.

2. What kind of sugar is used for banana rice?

We usually use golden sugar for banana rice, but because people are more aware of health nowadays, we use brown sugar instead. Brown sugar is more beneficial to the health as well as more fragrant. Golden sugar melts more slowly, so it melds together with the rice and bananas when cooking; brown sugar, on the other hand, is finer, and is already melded with the sticky rice and bananas when all three are mixed together. 

3. What do you have to watch out for when wrapping up the banana leaves?

Because it is banana rice, we use banana leaves to enhance the banana fragrance.

Banana leaves must be harvested the day we’re going to use them, so that they maintain their freshness. After you bring the leaves home, cut them into 20cmx20cm squares. Wash them after you cut them carefully to avoid tearing them, then boil a pot of water and blanch the leaves.

4. What do you need to pay attention to when cooking banana rice? Do you need to season it?

The thing you have to be most careful about is not tearing the leaves when wrapping them up, and the second is to use just the right amount of filling, because too much filling and the leaves burst, but too little and the finished product looks unattractive and is unsatisfying. Determine the amount of filling by the size of your leaves. When you tie the rolls up, pull the cotton string tight, or the filling might fall out during the cooking process.

Banana rice is usually steamed, watch out so that the water does not exceed the bottom of the steamer, because if the water touches the banana rice, then you’re cooking, not steaming it. The water evaporates in the steaming process, so you must continue to add water.

In terms of cooking time, start from when the water boils and you place the banana rice into the steamer, then put the lid on and cook for 40 minutes. If you’re making a lot of banana rice, you must extend the cooking time. When you arrange the rolls of banana rice in the steamer, do not place them too closely or tightly together, because the rice expands when fully cooked, and try to place them in criss-crossing positions.

Banana rice does not require seasoning because bananas are already sweet, so be careful not to add too much sugar in case it becomes too sweet. Banana rice is fragrant, sweet and has a great texture, and can be eaten with wild vegetables or soups. If you want to be creative, you can add yams or goji berries to the rice and create a unique flavor.

5. What is the origin of banana rice?

In the earlier days, when hunters went hunting, they were often gone for two or three days at a time, and because the women of Truku wished their men to eat well even up in the mountains, they thought of bananas, which are easy to preserve and high in calorie count, hence banana+rice=banana rice. This way, the hunters of the tribe would have no want for food. 

6. At what occasions is banana rice eaten? Are any people not allowed to eat it?

Because food is nowadays easily available, banana rice is usually only eaten at visitor welcoming parties or during thanksgiving festivities.[up]

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

2. Jianching Village, Wanrong Township, Hualien County. Interviewee: Ms. Bao-shu Hen , Date of Interview: 2011.5.26