Guōbā sometimes known as mi guoba is a Chinese food ingredient consisting of scorched rice. Traditionally guōbā 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 flavor, and is sometimes eaten as a snack.
Guōbā 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. Guōbā is also served in soups and stews and prominently featured in Sichuan cuisine. Since demand for guōbā outstrips traditional production and modern ways of cooking rice (in electric rice cookers) do not produce it, guōbā has been commercially manufactured since the 1980’s.
In Cantonese-speaking areas of China, scorched rice is known as fan jiao and is a prominent feature of claypot rice.