How to Write 糍 (cí) — Meaning “Glutinous rice cake”

Imagine a rice cake (米) sitting on top of the word "this" (兹) — so you point at it and say "this rice cake is called 糍 cí." Alternatively, think of the right side 兹 as "two (二) strands (丝)" of sticky rice being twisted together.

Notice that 米 on the left becomes slightly narrower and its last stroke (a dot) changes to a shorter slant to fit with the right component. The right part 兹 must be written with 10 strokes — be careful not to mix up the top 䒑 (eight-like) and the bottom 丝 (silk-radical) parts; common mistakes include writing 丝 with an extra horizontal line.

粮 (liáng, grain/food) uses 良 (good) on the right and always refers to food grains in general, while 粱 (liáng, fine grain/millet) uses 木 (tree) below 刂 and means a specific grain. In contrast, 糍 specifically means a sticky rice cake or snack, and its right side is 兹, not 良 or 粱.

糍 appears in names of traditional glutinous rice snacks like 糍粑 (cí bā, pounded sticky rice cake) and 糯米糍 (nuò mǐ cí, a mochi-like sweet ball). These foods are especially popular during festivals and as street snacks in southern China, and the character is almost always used in food contexts.

Common words containing 糍 include: 糍粑 (cí bā) — Ciba (pounded glutinous rice cake); 糯米糍 (nuò mǐ cí) — Glutinous rice ball / Mochi-like snack; 吃糍粑 (chī cí bā) — to eat glutinous rice cake.