“Lift the pot lid!” Upon lifting the lid of the steamer, scorching hot gusts of steam escape. Smoke from the woodfire and the steam create a misty cloud-like effect, filled with the sweet aroma of glutinous rice and sugar. Fresh from the pot, glutinous rice cakes have a dark caramel surface while the inner layer is golden in colour, with a smooth and soft texture. Stir using a chopstick, curl up a morsel, take an eager bite despite its high temperature, a pleasant sweetness lingers on the palate.
Glutinous rice cakes are a must-have for Chinese New Year celebration, used for prayers or gifting among family and friends. In the past, almost every family will make glutinous rice cakes before Chinese New Year. In Hakkanese it is called Tài Lǒng Cí (big basket glutinous treat), because it is contained within a bamboo basket that is one foot in diameter. Line the bamboo basket with heat-treated banana leaves, mill the glutinous rice into semi-liquid form, add equal parts of sugar and mix evenly, then pour the mixture into the container and steam for at least 18 to 20 hours.After the steamed glutinous rice cakes cooled down, cut into long strips and put into a tiered bamboo basket alongside other festive gifts, to bring along when visiting family and friends.
49-year-old Lim Swee Lin, whose ancestry is traced back to HeXi Hakkanese village in southern China, is a fourth-generation immigrant, born and bred in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. His mother, who learned to make traditional treats from both his maternal grandmother (from JiaYing, MeiXian) and his paternal grandmother (from HeXi), ran a wholesale business in Kepong from the 70s to the 90s. As he grew up, he would help out after school. Glutinous rice cake making starts from one month before Chinese New Year, in Lim’s teenage years, he would stay up throughout the night to help tend the fire, adding firewood or water when necessary. Under a subtle influence, he gained glutinous rice cake making skills.
Now a maker of micro landscapes, Lim frequently participate in artisan markets. In conjunction with the Chinese New Year themed You Ni Market 18.0, he decided to share the taste of Chinese New Year he experienced while growing up, replicating the hard and weary process of making traditional glutinous rice cakes to acquaint market-goers with authentic Tài Lǒng Cí. Lim insists on sourcing natural ingredients, using untreated wood (rubber and acacia) for firewood, opting to use bamboo tubes from edible species as containers, which he also line with banana leaves. Lim’s glutinous rice cake mixture is not made from commercially available glutinous rice flour and refined sugar, instead glutinous rice is soaked overnight and ground into semi-liquid form, and then add raw cane sugar which is rich in nutrients and minerals.
Piling firewood, starting a fire, and building a simple red brick stove are all muscle memory to Lim. Boil water in a large iron-cast pot, layer some wood in the pot and arrange the bamboo tubes filled with glutinous rice cake mixture on it, then close the lid. During the cooking process, it is crucial to maintain a burning fire, making sure that the fire does not die out as the weather changes. After steaming for eight to twelve consecutive hours, the glutinous rice and raw cane sugar mixture became fully incorporated and caramelization took place. The aromas of the bamboo tubes and banana leaves became infused into the glutinous rice cakes as well. Consuming while hot, sweetness is at its prime, yet more complex flavours may develop after cooling down.
As Lim takes up the challenge of making glutinous rice cakes on-site, to ensure that things go well, he sought advice from his mother, and engaged his son’s help while providing him with hands-on training. The making of traditional Tài Lǒng Cí passed over four generations, not only strengthening family bonds, but also a continuation of Chinese New Year celebration, wisdom and cultural heritage.
有你 UNI Production
Producer : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Michael Lerk
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Michael Lerk
Copywriter : Pua Hui Wen
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