A Bite of She 會家美食

雷錚榮

I ?first tried making Jianzong—a pillow-shaped zongzi. Under the guidanceof an experienced master， I put some bamboo leaves on my palm（手掌）， trying to fold them into a rectangle shape（矩形）. Then I used a spoon to fillit with the mixture of sticky rice（糯米）， red beans， peanuts and so on. Themost challenging step was wrapping（包裹）. I turned to my master， with hishelp I eventually bundled it up（捆綁） firmly.

Then the sight of making Ciba （a popular food in the region of She nationality） drew my attention. With a long wooden hammer， a strong guy wasrepeatedly pounding steamed glutinous rice（重擊蒸糯米） to make it chewy. Then， he sprinkled （灑）it with brown sugar and sesame（芝麻）. With itssweet taste and chewy texture， it really made my mouth water. How enjoyableit was！

And I was told that traditionally Ciba is served on the important days of the She family to share their joy and delight. Besides， regular consumption of Ciba is believed to be beneficial to our stomach.

These traditional ethnic foods embody the history and customs of She nationality. In this way， She culture is passed down from generation to generation.