Street Eats: Comforting Winter Bites at Jiangnan Rice Balls on Chaoyangmennei

Between Chaoyangmen and Dongsi, there are a neverending slew of hidden gems running the whole gamut of Chinese culinary classics, from Sichuan noodles to Shaxian snacks, bāozi to jiānbǐng. However, we were feeling adventurous and having heard that there was a new rice ball joint nearby, we skipped the usual and headed straight to Jiangnan Rice Balls.

粢饭团 (zī fàn tuán) or rice rolls originating from Jiangnan, south of the Yangtze River, are normally made using a mix of glutinous and normal rice, pork floss, yóutiáo, and preserved mustard root. Apart from yóutiáo and soybean milk, zī fàn tuán is one of the most popular breakfast options in Shanghai.

We arrived just after the lunch peak, hoping to avoid any potential crowds but even that wasn't going to help the fact that the space is about one meter wide. Even with just one other customer and a delivery guy waiting inside there was barely room for me – not a place to sit and munch.

The board above the kitchen area displays the several varieties of rice balls on offer, including "double egg" (shuāngdàn), preserved vegetables (méigàncài), classic, which comes with no egg (dàn), and ham (huǒ tuǐ), as well as the choice between regular, white or purple rice as the rice ball's encasing.

We opted for the bestsellers: the shuāngdàn, consisting of salted egg yolk, tea egg, pork floss, preserved mustard root, peanut, and yóutiáo. These things are packed with all the textures – crunchy peanut and yóutiáo combine with the chewy glutinous rice and fluffy pork floss. The méigàncài also hit the spot and was flavored nicely thanks to the sweetness from the pork floss balancing well with the savory preserved vegetables.

In our opinion, these are more rice roll than rice ball. Just like making sushi, they lay out the layer of rice first and then put different stuffings on top, then roll it up, but leave the finished product intact making for a hefty and filling snack. Thankfully they also offer soy bean milk – or if you're really hankering for rice – a nice, refreshing bowl of porridge to wash it down. 

A cursory search on Baidu uncovers a bunch of crybabies complaining that one side effect of eating rice balls late in the day is that you may feel sick and bloated, well, that’s the reason people have it for breakfast, dummy – these balls of mega-stodge will clog you up for the day, in a good way.

We'd suggest that since these rice balls come tepid anyway, and there’s no seating inside, skip eating them in the frigid weather and them delivered straight to your empty stomach through Baidu Waimai.

Jiangnan Rice Balls
Daily 7.30am-7pm. 105 Chaoyangmen Nanxiaojie, Dongcheng District (182 1108 0906)
江南粢饭团：东城区朝阳门南小街105号

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang