Stone-ground rice flour: the everyday life of farmers

Glutinous rice flour and regular rice flour are essential ingredients for traditional Hakka pastries. In the old days, rural villages had no supermarkets selling pre-packaged flour, so villagers had to grind their own rice manually before making snacks like cha kwo and Ko Ban (steamed rice cakes).

The stone mill is a traditional tool for processing grain. Its primary function is to grind rice, wheat, soybeans and other grains into powder; if water is added during the grinding process, the mill produces a paste, which can be used to make rice milk or soy milk. With the passage of time, stone mills powered by human effort have long been replaced by machines, and those remaining in Lai Chi Wo village now serve only as decorative items. Yet a closer look still reveals its structure and craftsmanship. The stone mill consists of two circular stone plates: the lower plate is fixed, while the upper plate is turned by human power to grind the grains. During the process, rice or beans pass through a central hole into the grinding chamber and gradually move outward, becoming finer as they go, until the powdered or paste form reaches the outer groove, marking the completion of the milling process.