Eight treasures rice is the finale of the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner table in Shanghai. Every Spring Festival in the old calendar, there are long queues in front of the time-honored shops selling eight-treasure rice in Shanghai. There are various folk legends about the Eight Treasure Rice, some say that it is to commemorate the eight scholars who made meritorious contributions with King Wu of Zhou, and some say that it comes from the ancient Eight Treasure Map, which means that wealth comes from all directions.
As for the specific eight treasures, it is a bit arbitrary. Generally, it is lotus seeds, red dates, preserved fruits, longan meat, honey cherries, winter melon strips, barley rice, melon seed kernels, raisins, walnuts, bean paste and so on. The eight-treasure rice is not difficult to make, mixed with oil and sugar in the medium-rare glutinous rice, garnished with toppings, and some will also be wrapped in bean paste filling, steamed until cooked and ready to eat. Nowadays, the Eight Treasure Rice is also rich due to the addition of many ingredients, and in addition to the regular Eight Treasure Rice, the Blood Glutinous Rice Eight Treasure Rice is also quite popular. In addition, the fried eight-treasure rice with a different approach is also worth trying. Of course, what remains unchanged is that the taste of Babao rice is still mainly sweet.
Recommended Merchants:
Wangjiasha dim sum shop (Nanjing West Road head office)
Business District: Nanjing West Road Business District
Address: No. 805, West Nanjing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Phone: 021-62530404
Business hours: Monday to Sunday 07:00-20:30
Per capita: 40 yuan
Wangjiasha dim sum shop (Hongqiao Airport store)
Business district: Hongqiao hub area
Address: DF401, 4th Floor, Outside the Restricted Area of Terminal 2, Hongqiao International Airport, Minhang District, Shanghai
Phone: 021-62770177
Business hours: Monday to Sunday 09:00-21:00
Per capita: 50 yuan