Black Sesame Soft Ball is one of Shanghai's famous dessert. It has a history for more than seventy years.

It is said that in the late Qing Dynasty, there is an old lady named Lei who sold rice ball at Sanpailou road in Shanghai. In that times the rice ball can only sale while making, and it can not store for a long time. So the old lady tried a variety of methods to improve rice ball and solve the defects of inconvenient carrying. She tried to roll on a layer of glutinous rice powder on the surface of the rice ball, and also tried other kinds of dry powder. Finally, She found out that the red bean powder is the best. The making method is pick up the cooked rice ball, stir it in the fried red bean powder, so that the outer layer of rice ball wrapped with red bean powder. The rice ball with no more soup and it is easy to take away. You can eat it when it is hot or it is cold. So the improved rice ball is called“Lei Sha Yuan". After the creation of the Shanghai Qiao family restaurant, they began to make the kind of rice ball on a large scale. The restaurant also improved production methods, fry the red bean power to dry powder and sieve it with a seventeen holes sieve, so the red bean is more fine and smooth. Pick up the cooked rice ball, drain away the water, then put it into the dry red bean powder, the finished is purple. It is soft and glutinous with subtle flavors. It is loved by the customers. Qiao family restaurant changed the name from ‘Lei Sha Yuan” to Black Sesame Soft Ball, and it becomes one of the most famous desserts.

There is a variety of Hit the sand garden, the filling can be meat, bean powder, sesame and so on. Its color is pink or purple, soft and glutinous, it has a thick scent of beans and it is easy to take away. It has been popular with visitors for many years.

The main material of Hit the sand garden is a rice ball. Rice ball is one of the representatives of Chinese traditional snacks. It is a kind of spherical food made of glutinous rice flour. Usually, there are fillings in it, boil it and eat it with soup. At the same time, it is also the most special food for the Lantern Festival. It has a very long history. It is said that the rice ball is originated in the Song Dynasty. The rice ball is a symbol of family reunion and better, eat rice ball means happiness and reunion of the whole family. Therefore, it is necessary to eat the rice ball in the Lantern Festival. In some areas of the south, people will eat rice ball at the time of the Spring Festival, instead of dumplings.