Despite the way its name sounds, glutinous rice does not contain gluten. Also known as “sticky rice,” these milky white grains instead contain amylopectin, which easily turns into a glutinous paste. This versatile grain is can be used for cooking porridge, steaming cakes, stir fry, mochi, brewing wine, and Asian rice wrap dishes. It is also very nutritious, and has a sort of healing effect on the stomach and spleen.
Glutinous rice can be fermented and simmered together with wheat sprouts to make maltose, which is good for digestion, invigorating the spleen, and replenishing qi, or energy, as it is known in traditional Chinese medicine. The lees, or hongzao, which are sediment from glutinous rice and red yeast, is a tonic remedy in traditional Chinese medicine for invigorating blood. Many traditional Chinese medicinal prescriptions use glutinous rice in the ingredients.
