Ai Wo Wo (Sticky rice with sweet fillings)

Ai Wo Wo, also known as Sticky rice with sweet fillings or glutinous rice ball, is made of sticky rice or millet with sweet filling, first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. Flexible in consistency and with a distinctive smooth texture, this dainty snack became a favorite of imperial and noble families during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It is said that it came to be called Ai Wo Wo (emperor’s special) because one particular emperor loved it so much. Now it is one of Beijing’s snacks loved by local people.

Ai Wo Wo is a kind of Muslim food in Beijing. It’s made from sticky rice with a sweet filling. The fillings are made of red bean, taro or many other sweet ingredients. Ai Wo Wo’s color is snow white and shaped like a small ball. It has a soft, sticky texture with a fragrant smell. Ai Wo Wo is on sale from the Spring Festival period to early autumn.

Ai Wo Wo

How to cook Ai Wo Wo (Sticky rice with sweet fillings)?

The rice is first steamed then pounded and shaped into a ball. It is then given a filling, which might be sesame and white sugar, pea-flour, jujube paste or some other treat.

Ingredient for Ai Wo Wo:

Polished glutinous rice, sesame, sugar, rice flour, haw jelly cake

Directions to cook Ai Wo Wo:

1, Soak polished glutinous rice in water for 4 hours or more.

2, Steam the soaked rice on the steamer and cool it. Steam the rice flour 15 minutes. Stir-fry sesame and pound.

3, Mix the sesame with sugar and beat. Roll the rice into a bar. Cut the rice bar in to parts.

4, Roll the rice ball in the flour and press it thin. Fill the sesame filing into the rice ball. Roll the rice ball in the flour again.

5, Cut haw jelly cake into small pieces and place one on a rice ball.