Guoba
Guoba (鍋耙, 鍋巴, 锅巴, lit. "pan adherents"), sometimes known as mi guoba (米鍋耙, lit. rice guoba) is a Chinese food ingredient consisting of scorched rice. Traditionally guoba forms during the boiling of rice over direct heat from a flame. This results in the formation of a crust of scorched rice on the bottom of the wok or cooking vessel. This scorched rice has a firm and crunchy texture with a slight toasted flavour, and is sometimes eaten as a snack.
Guoba is also used as an ingredient in many Chinese dishes with thick sauces, since the bland taste of the scorched rice takes on the flavour of the sauces. Guoba is also served in soups and stews and prominently featured in Szechuan cuisine. Since demand for guoba outstrips traditional production and modern ways of cooking rice (in electric rice cookers) do not produce it, guoba has been commercially manufactured since the late 20th century.
In Vietnamese cuisine, a similar food is called cơm khô or cơm cháy.
See also
- Nurungji, a very similar food in Korean cuisine