Jianshui Ba (Alkaline Rice Cake)

Jianshui ba is a long-established rice cake of Jingdezhen and northeastern Jiangxi, made by setting a rice slurry with plant-ash lye and steaming it into pale-yellow blocks, soft yet springy in texture; it is a quintessential local snack.

Jianshui ba is said to have been made in Jingdezhen for centuries, a product of rice-growing communities' know-how in using plant-ash alkali to process and preserve rice foods. The lye changes the texture and helps it keep, so it long served as farmhouse stock food and a seasonal treat.

It is cut into thin slices; the classic preparation stir-fries it with local smoked cured pork and garlic shoots, while a homely version pairs it with scrambled egg. The result is savory and well-seasoned, the rice fragrance mingling with the smoky cured meat.

Thin slices soak up the fat of the cured pork and the aroma of garlic, soft and chewy with a faint alkaline note; it is among the most homely, everyday dishes on a Jingdezhen table.