San Da Pao

San Da Pao is a famous traditional glutinous-rice sweet of Chengdu: steamed sticky rice is pounded into mochi, divided into small balls, rolled in toasted soybean flour, and finished with brown-sugar syrup and sesame, soft, chewy, and sweet.

The name, "three big cannons," comes from the way the maker hurls the rice balls so they strike a brass tray and bounce into a tray of soybean flour with three crisp bangs, making it a theatrical sweet of Chengdu's temple fairs and snack streets.

It is made and eaten on the spot, flung with its three bangs then coated and drizzled to order, softest while still warm, a fitting bite while strolling districts like Jinli and the Wide and Narrow Alleys.

A genuine serving turns on chewy mochi, the toasty fragrance of soybean flour, and the lingering sweetness of brown sugar, with the "three cannons" of the making half the fun.