Ancient 2,000-year-old rice resurrected with modern technology

A team of students has resurrected an ancient rice recipe through the use of Han-era techniques and modern technology.

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Eleven students have taken an ancient rice recipe that was found on a bamboo slip inside the tomb of Wu Yang, a military general and politician who lived in the county of Hunan, and applied modern technology along with Han-era cooking techniques to resurrect the ancient food. The students from Hunan University, along with China Agricultural University in Beijing, set out to recreate the food by correctly interpreting the ancient texts and using tools that are as close to what was used by people when the recipe was written.

The 2,000-year-old recipe was scattered among several bamboo slips, and unfortunately fragmented. Moreover the recipe didn't include important factors such as cooking times, sparking an investigation into how rice cooking has changed over the course of 2,000 years.

The students managed to get as close to ancient methods as possible, with Shi Jing, an associate professor at Yuelu Academy, supervising the project and admitting "complete authenticity is impossible," but through the combination of ancient techniques and modern equipment, the students were able to "tap into ancient wisdom."

Using a traditional rural zongzi, a wooden steamer, clay pots, and a specific type of rice, one out of 40,000 different varieties, and hand-selected by master chef He Juxian, who chose a type of rice that resembled rice from the Han-era, the students began the cooking process.

1. Soaked the rice for a full half hour
2. Drained it
3. Cooked for 20 minutes
4. Air dry before adding water
5. Steam rice for another 15 minutes

"The rice recreated according to the 'Shi Fang' manuscript might inspire new culinary innovations in contemporary restaurants," said master chef He