Ciba is a kind of food made by steaming and mashing glutinous rice. Ciba is made by putting cooked glutinous rice into a stone trough and mashing it with a stone hammer or reed. Generally, this kind of food can be called Ciba. Southern ethnic snacks are popular foods in some areas of southern China.
According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Wu Zixu, a courtier of the State of Chu, went to Wu to avenge his father and wanted to use Wu's soldiers to crusade against Chu. He came to the State of Wu, helped He Lv, the king of Wu, to become a minister active in the State of Wu. Soon, he realized his ambition, led Wu Bing to attack Chu, the capital of Kyoto, and dug up the tomb of the King of Chu, whipping the corpse for revenge.
Since then, Wu Zixu has been granted land. On one occasion, the King of Wu ordered him to lead people to build the famous "Helv City" to prevent invasion. After the completion of the city, the prince of Wu was overjoyed. Only Wu Zixu is unhappy. He knows that he has a lot of grievances, and he is afraid that it will be difficult for someone to tolerate him in the future. After returning to the camp, he said to his cronies, "Forgetting Wang Xi will not come to a good end. After my death, if the country is in trouble and the people are hungry and cold, you can dig three feet under Xiangmen (one of the eight gates in Suzhou) to find food to satisfy your hunger. " Fu Cha, the son of He Lu, refused Wu Zixu's advice many times after he succeeded to the throne, but actually listened to rumors, which led to Wu Zixu's suicide.
As Wu Zixu expected, shortly after his death, Gou Jian of Yue took the opportunity to send troops to attack Wu and surrounded the capital of Wu. At that time, it was the end of the year, it was freezing, the people in the city were hungry and cold, and the country and people were really in danger. At this critical moment, people think of Wu Zixu's entrustment before his death, and secretly tear down the city walls to dig the ground. People are surprised to find that the foundations of cities are all bricks and stones pressed with cooked glutinous rice.
It turns out that this is the grain reserve stored as the cornerstone of the city wall after a large amount of glutinous rice is steamed and pressed into bricks in Wu Zixu. People can't help but sigh, Wu Zixu is so prescient! Everyone picked up the glutinous rice bricks, smashed them, cooked them again and ate them separately. Later, in Chutian area, people would make glutinous rice into Ciba every year as a "city brick" to show their respect for Wu Zixu.
Today, Ciba is still a must-have food for people all over South China before the Spring Festival every year. In some places, Ciba is made into large and small circles, symbolizing harvest, celebration and reunion. In some places, it is also called rice cake, which also means good luck. People often say, "rice cake, rice cake, long life".
Ciba is characterized by softness, delicacy, sweetness and convenience. It is a good product for entertaining guests and giving gifts to relatives and friends.