A bite of glutinous rice balls at century-old restaurant in Fuzhou during Lantern Festival

Lin Yingde makes glutinous rice balls in his restaurant in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (People’s Daily Online/Qian Jiahe)

As an annual tradition, Chinese people will eat Yuanxiao, a kind of round and sweet dumpling made of glutinous rice flour that symbolizes family reunion, to celebrate the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month.

In Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province, many people often wait in line to grab a bite of a special kind of glutinous rice balls made with fresh meat stuffing at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant.

The restaurant attracts customers for its savory glutinous rice balls and unique technique for making the traditional food, which was created by Lin Bingxiang, and was previously listed as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in Fujian.

Lin Bingxiang peddled his glutinous rice balls for more than 30 years in several places around Fuzhou, but it was his son Lin Guifang who made the family’s products well-known in the city.

“My father had a hearing problem when he was young. Although his restaurant was named ‘Guifang’ after his first name, his regular patrons would call it Erlongbo, which literally means ‘deaf uncle’,” recalled Ling Yingde, the third-generation inheritor of the Lin family’s Yuanxiao-making technique, explaining the name of the restaurant.

Lin Yingde introduced that, in the past, he would ground glutinous rice and ordinary rice proportionately by hand to make rice flour, and then mix raw and cooked rice flour to make soft but not sticky Yuanxiao wrappers. Since his son Lin Wei began to run the restaurant in 2011, electric grinders have been used to improve the efficiency of making the cherished snack.

Photo shows glutinous rice balls at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Photo shows rice flour used when making the wrappers for glutinous rice balls at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Photo shows the wrapper for a glutinous rice ball at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Photo shows the process for making a glutinous rice ball at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Photo shows the process for making a glutinous rice ball at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Photo shows glutinous rice balls at Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (People’s Daily Online/Lin Dongxiao)

Lin Yingde makes meat stuffing for his restaurant’s special glutinous rice balls. (Photo/Lin Wei)

Lin Yingde wraps a glutinous rice ball. (Photo/Lin Wei)

A customer buys glutinous rice balls from Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, before the Lantern Festival in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (People’s Daily Online/Lin Dongxiao)

Photo shows glutinous rice balls from Erlongbo, a century-old restaurant, to be delivered before the Lantern Festival in Fuzhou city, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (People’s Daily Online/Qian Jiahe)

Lin Yingde instructs his son Lin Wei to wrap glutinous rice balls. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)