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How do you do Bamboo Sticky Rice?
by Mo Rui Qiu
J ingxi Zhuang people kept talking about “doing bamboo sticky rice,”
so I was eager to find out what they were excited about. I mean, it
5-colored rice
Spooning the rice mixture into the bamboo shaft.


5-colored rice
Stuffing the open end of the bamboo with a sweet potato cork.


5-colored rice
Bamboo sticky rice roasts over the open fire.


5-colored rice
Chewy, savory bamboo sticky rice is ready to eat!

makes sense to eat bamboo sticky rice, but what was this business about doing bamboo sticky rice? They told me that you have to wait until the bamboo is just at the right stage for doing bamboo sticky rice. Apparently, in October, the bamboo is just wide enough to hold a good amount of rice, yet still green enough not to burn up in the fire, and there is a thin clear layer inside the bamboo that gels with the sticky rice as it roasts.

One night in late October, we walked outside to find our neighbors warmly welcoming us to join in this cherished Jingxi tradition. Each person has a length of green bamboo about two and half feet (about 70 cm) long. It’s open at one end and remains closed at the other. As we entered, they handed us an empty shaft of bamboo and motioned to the basin of wet, uncooked glutinous rice, mixed with ham and sausage. My friend and I grabbed spoons and started shoveling the rice mixture into the empty bamboo pipe. It takes a while to fill the hollow tube with rice! That’s why it’s more fun to gather a bunch of friends and do it all together.

When it was nearly full, we used a chopstick to poke through the rice and make sure there weren’t any empty spots. Then, we poured water in until it reached the top. Nearby, there was a pile of purple sweet potatoes. I thought they were going to be snacks to tide everyone over while we waited for the bamboo sticky rice to roast. Instead, I watched one of my local friends whittle half of the sweet potato into an edible cork! He stuffed the natural cork into the open end of the bamboo so that the rice and water would not bubble out while it was roasting. “How clever,” I thought!

Outside, others were stoking a fire next to a low brick wall. They leaned the stuffed bamboo rods over the fire to roast. I asked, “How do you know when it’s ready to eat?” They explained, “When the outside is totally charred, then you know it’s cooked inside.” The smoke blew in our eyes as the wind shifted; we hopped around trying to stay warm in the cool night air. Soon, the bamboo shafts were blackened and it was time to hack them open with a hefty knife. A neighbor used the cleaver to peel away the outer layers of the sooty bamboo.

As soon as he hit the inner layer, he cracked it open to reveal toasty bamboo sticky rice. The flavors of the sausage and ham had mingled with the fragrant glutinous rice, making it a savory treat! Oh, I wish that bamboo was “just right” for this delicacy more often than one month of the year!