With a very long history, the black rice was found in the Tang Dynasty and also a kind of food in festivals. Yixing black rice is a local featured cate in Yixing with a long history and has been handed down from generation to generation; it is also a kind of particular folk customs culture created in the folk in Yixing with very distinct local feature and has greater influence around Yixing.
The black rice is a kind of purple and black sticky rice which is steamed by soaking sticky rice (or mixed with some polished round-grained rice )in the juice of Lyonia tree leaves (also named as asphaltenes tree, the black rice toothed burclover or black rice tree leaf), is very delicious with very nice smell.
The traditional black rice passed down to now can be both steamed or cooked, is generally sweet and people may eat by dipping with some white sugar. Some is made into small black rice paste and wrapped by reed leaves. Some is made into sweet cake featured cake mixed with some sweet-scented osmanthus flowers, almond and dried grapes etc. Some is the salty black rice mixed with salt meat, peas, broad bean and bamboo shoots etc. Some is cooked into sweet black rice mixed with walnut kernel, Chinese date, dried grapes, cooked sesames and honey etc. ,and is rich of nutrition and stimulates people’s appetite.
