凤梨饭鳳梨飯
fèng lí fàn fung6 lei4 faan6
In Xishuangbanna the Dai people hollow out a fresh pineapple, pack it with sweet glutinous rice, and steam the whole fruit until the rice drinks up its juice — the pineapple is both the pot and half the seasoning. It arrives at the table still in its leafy shell, a tropical dish from China's subtropical southwest corner.
The story behind it
Xishuangbanna, on the borders of Laos and Myanmar, is home to the Dai (傣族), whose cooking leans tropical and sweet-sour in a way most Chinese food does not — pineapple, lemongrass, banana leaf and sticky rice feel closer to Southeast Asia than to the rest of Yunnan. Steaming food inside fruit or bamboo is a Dai signature that needs no metal pot, and 菠萝饭 (the dish's everyday name on the mainland) is now a staple of the night markets in Jinghong. The same purple "black" glutinous rice (紫米) used in Dai sweets often goes into it, turning the rice a deep violet against the gold fruit.
Ingredients
- 1 ripe pineapple (firm, with leafy crown intact)
- 250 g glutinous rice (sticky rice), soaked overnight — or mix in 50 g purple 紫米
- 2 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt
- Optional: 2 tbsp raisins or dried goji berries
- Optional: handful of cooked sweet corn or diced ham for a savoury version
- 1 tbsp coconut milk or a knob of butter to finish
Steps
- Drain the soaked rice and steam it over a cloth-lined steamer 25–30 minutes until tender; stir in sugar, salt and coconut milk.
- Stand the pineapple upright, slice off the top (keep it as a lid), and hollow out the flesh, leaving a sturdy wall.
- Dice some of the scooped pineapple and fold it, with the raisins or corn, into the warm rice.
- Pack the rice mixture back into the pineapple shell and set the leafy lid back on top.
- Steam the filled pineapple 20–30 minutes so the fruit's juice soaks into the rice.
- Bring it whole to the table and spoon the rice straight from the shell while hot.