Many Asian countries whose staple is rice have their own version of glutinous rice balls. In Taiwan, Hakka people call them Ziba. Ziba is made from steamed glutinous rice dough. Hakka people then take turns mashing it with a bamboo mortar and pestle until it becomes a sticky mass, which is a famous Hakka ritual called Ziba Smashing. Then it is coated with sugar or peanut powder and turned into one of the most popular Hakka snacks. It is served either as an hors d'oeuvre to stimulate appetite, or a dessert after a meal coupled with a cup of tea.

There is a similar Hakka rice snack called Niu Wenshiu. Like Ziba, it's also made from glutinous rice dough, except it's put in brown sugar soup and covered with peanuts and sesames. Niu Wenshiu literally means "cattle bathed in water" in Chinese. It got the name because the shapes of rice pastries floating in a soup remind Hakka people of cattle bathed in water, which has the same ring as ice cream floats are called "spider" in Australia.