What it is
Sticky glutinous rice simmered until soft and thick, sweetened with cane sugar and scented with dried longan (桂圓). Southern Taiwan calls it 米糕粥 (mǐgāo zhōu, 'sticky rice porridge'); in the north it is more often 桂圓粥, longan porridge. It sits on the menus of traditional sweet-soup shops beside red bean and peanut soups.
Where it came from
Glutinous rice, also called 江米, has long been seen in Chinese food lore as a mild tonic that is kind to the stomach. The porridge was cheap, filling food for ordinary people and labourers. In the Japanese colonial period street vendors sold it from pots they carried with them. The season decided the add-in: longan in winter, mung beans in summer.
Tainan's Chiang Shui Hao (江水號) grew out of that street trade. Under Japanese rule the authorities opened the spare ground behind the West Market (西市場) to open-air evening stalls, and founder Huang Chiang-shui (黃江水) sold sweets and shaved ice nearby. One food guide dates the business to 1931. The Huang family has run it for three generations and still makes everything by hand.
How it is made
Glutinous rice is cooked with water and dried longan until the grains turn soft and thick. Sugar goes in near the end, often light brown sugar, sometimes with some dark brown sugar too. Many cooks add rice wine, or soak the longan in it first. Taipei's Beigang Sweet Soup (北港甜湯) uses Chiayi longan, adds no rice wine by default, and treats the balance of sugar and rice as the key.
How to eat it
Order it hot (熱) on a cold evening or cold (冷) as a summer dessert; most shops keep both. Rice wine is sometimes drizzled on just before eating. The porridge can also be frozen into ice lollies (米糕冰棒), sold at old-style ice-pop (枝仔冰) shops.
Around Taiwan
- Tainan
- Chiang Shui Hao (江水號) on Guohua Street sells it hot or cold alongside eight-treasure ice, red bean soup with rice balls and peanut soup. The Huang family's third generation is now in charge.
- North
- Beigang Sweet Soup (北港甜湯) at Huaxi Street Night Market in Wanhua, opened in 1953 by a couple from Beigang in Yunlin, serves it hot or cold with two or three longans a bowl. The dish is uncommon in Taipei.
