By Mahlon Meyer
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
The hot rice, shiny and glistening with water, was simmering under a lid. When Aiden Yin, 16, lifted the lid, a gust of steam shot out.
The Lunar New Year had begun. Well, almost.
The day of the beginning of the two-week-long celebration would not commence for another week. But the preparations, at least, had begun.
A group of 40 students from Bellevue and surrounding school districts, parents, and organizers spent Saturday afternoon making hundreds of “Eight Treasure Rice Puddings” to sell for charity, to give as gifts, and to mark the annual cycle when Asian families gather by one means or another.
From left: Lucas Wangelin, Aiden Yin, and Luran Yang co-taught the cooking course (Photo by Mahlon Meyer)
(There are various legends associated with the origins of the pudding, but all agree that the number “eight” is lucky and promises good fortune.)
The small room donated by the Salvation Army of the Eastside was packed and humming with voices, children’s and adults’—humming with laughter and recriminations.
“We knew how to make it according to traditional patterns,” said Yin, a junior at Newport High School. “But the younger kids, they were really artistic.”
Nicholas, a 13-year-old who did not want to give his last name, confided that he had used the dates, seeds, and goji berries to make smiley faces and numerical patterns in the traditional rice pudding.
“It was a success,” said Lucas Wangelin, 15, a sophomore from the International School, who helped run the event. “Families came together sharing traditions.”
Lucas and his mother, Janine Le, helped organize the event. Photo by Mahlon Meyer)
Parents and organizers
Perhaps this explains the fervor of the participants at Saturday’s event. Organizers ordered food weeks in advance, from Costco and China.
Volunteers rose at 4 a.m. to prepare.
And a gaggle of parents fervidly took part in making the dessert.
“The parents really came together well and figured out a great production line,” said Janine Le, another organizer.
A special demonstration
But the kids were pretty excited, too.
Several told me about the mythological story of the monster Nian—part of the Lunar New Year cosmology—that is supposedly scared away with firecrackers during the celebrations. Others talked about building friendships during the event.
Koby O., 13, who asked for his last name to be redacted, said he was sitting in the back of the room and had a hard time hearing, so a classmate helped him learn each step.
Koby took home a pudding for his family (Photo by Mahlon Meyer)
“I got closer to him,” he said. “Everyone had a part.”
Yin ran from the kitchen to tables, carrying rice and other ingredients. When the show was all over, he put on a special demonstration for Northwest Asian Weekly and its readers about how to make this delicacy.
Here’s what you need:
Rice
Sugar
Pork lard (substitutes, such as olive oil, ok)
Then, the eight treasures (there were actually nine):
Lotus seeds
Dates
Pine nuts
Walnuts
Goji
Raisins
Apricots
Cranberries
Pumpkin seeds
First, cook the rice. Then add sugar on top. A pinch will do. Add oil or lard. A little bit. Mix.
Now, prepare a small bowl, glass is preferrable. Grease the inside with something very oleaginous. Yin used pork lard. But olive oil would do in a pinch.
On the bottom of the bowl, arrange the eight treasures flat in a kaleidoscopic design. Be sure to use taste and artistry, said Yin.
Because this will be the top of the dish—when the finished product is flipped over—this is what the eater will feast his or her eyes on first.
Yin started with a Lotus seed.
Yin laid down apricots, cranberries, and other delicacies in a symmetrical pattern.
Next, layer on a thin layer of rice. Cover the nuts, dates, and seeds completely.
Now comes the most interesting part of the preparation.
Around the very rim of the dish, lay goji berries so that they form a red barrier. The color red is symbolic of good fortune. Yin explained that goji are used in countless Chinese medicine concoctions.
“So it’s medicinal as well?” I asked.
“Yes,” he smiled.
After this ring is set in place, another layer of rice is laid down. But this time, a bowl of rice is created. The sides of the dish are now pasted with rice while the middle is left lower. This creates a hollow so that red bean paste may be floated in afterwards.
But before this is done, another ring of guardian angels—so to speak—is placed outside the newly laid rim of rice.
Dates and other delicacies are pivoted into the rice so that they form balustrades along the edge of the rice. Each one should be facing outwards, presenting a railing of red posts projecting more good fortune outwards to shine and beam upon the beholder.
This done, the glob of red bean paste is molded into the center, like a ball of clay.
“Or chocolate pudding,” said Nicholas, who was simultaneously giving instructions to Yin as he watched from the side.
The red bean paste is flattened and molded, then covered with another layer of rice.
And there you have it.
Yin turned the concoction over and scooped it out of the bowl.
One of the organizers wrapped it in plastic and offered it to this reporter to bring back to his family.
For a second, I held it in my hands, contemplating what it would taste like.
But then the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics that my editor had once sent me flashed through my mind.
“No gifts,” it said.
I had to hand it back.
Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.