The Mystery of Chinese Pastry - 中式糕點的奧秘

The Mystery of Chinese Pastry

ZHONG SHI GAO DIAN DE AO MI

Seasonal, specific foods were used to feel the changes of the seasons and the festive atmosphere.

The aesthetics of eating at the right time.

& Text by Ting Ching Yan

Illustration

The Mystery of Chinese Pastry

The purpose is to show the world China's unique baking skills and pastry culture by introducing the craft and culture of Chinese pastry through illustrated books. I hope that through the promotion of this theme, more people can know Chinese cakes, appreciate their delicious and exquisite production techniques, and have a deep understanding of Chinese food culture.

Author: Ting Ching Yan

Email: tingchingyan@gmail.com

Instagram: _caren.ding_

Behance: Caren Ding

The Mystery of Chinese Pastry

ZHONG SHI GAO DIAN DE AO MI

中式糕點的奧秘

Preface

Many areas of Chinese culture have been actively promoted, but the food culture is relatively lacking in the promotion of the world. Therefore, using food culture as project 's focus is very valuable.

Chinese pastry is a part of Chinese food culture, it is not only a delicious dessert, but also the crystallization of traditional Chinese baking technology and the embodiment of thousands of years of culture.

Seasonal Pastry

Production Process 製餅過程 BING ZHI GUO CHENG

Make Pastries with Care

The long history of 5,000 years, rich folk culture, and culinary culture in China have resulted in a wide variety of pastry dishes. Detailed accounts of pastry-making

processes can be found in ancient texts such as "Simin Yue Ling" and "Zhou Li · Tian Guan," showcasing various Chinese cooking methods and a diverse range of pastry styles.

Cantonese sponge cake is a kind of pastry in Cantonese tea house. Mala cake is golden in color and when eaten fresh is very fluffy, soft and has a slight fragrance. It is steamed through water and is often served in a steamer in restaurants.

made with flour, eggs, sugar gourd, sesame and so on. The baked wife cake is soft and

sweet on the outside and melts in the mouth.

Deep Fry

CUI MA HUA

Fried Dough Twist

Fried Dough Twist is a Chinese characteristic fried pasta snack, which mainly uses flour and eggs to twist into a strip and deep-fried. Usually sweet food (or salty food), the noodles will have syrup (which can be replaced by honey) and sesame seeds, and the taste is crisp.

Wooden Cake Mold

Sculpture

The taste of pastries is not the only important aspect; The appearance is also a significant art form.

Many people may have never realized that the creation of pastry molds also requires decades of effort to achieve perfection. Pastry molds were tools used by ancient people to make pastries, and skilled craftsmen ingeniously applied the art of engraving to these small molds. The wood used for the molds needs to be air-dried for at least a year, followed by intricate processes such as planing and carving. It is a meticulous craft that takes at least a year to create a small-sized pastry mold. The time and effort invested in this process are truly beyond imagination.

Pastry molds determine the shapes of pastries, with the most common being round, symbolizing "reunion" and togetherness. Flower shapes, such as chrysanthemums and sunflowers, represent "prosperity and flourishing." Rectangular shapes signify "rectitude." Ingot shapes symbolize "wealth and prosperity." Gourd shapes signify "good fortune." Peach shapes represent "longevity and health." The purpose of designing different shapes is not only to convey positive meanings but also to facilitate the distinction of various fillings.

Animal Pattern 動物紋

The patterns and designs on pastries are incredibly diverse, reflecting not only the beauty of traditional craftsmanship but also representing a microcosm of Chinese folk festivals, beliefs, and culinary culture. They also carry the hidden desires and aspirations of people for a better life. As a result, the motifs often revolve around auspiciousness, celebration, and good fortune.

Bat pattern, In Chinese culture, the bat is considered a symbol of good luck and auspiciousness. The Chinese word for bat, "fu," sounds the same as the word for "blessing" or "good fortune." The bat pattern represents people's hopes and pursuit of happiness and blessings.

and Phoenix

Dragon and phoenix pattern, The dragon and phoenix are often depicted together on both sides of the Chinese character "xi" (meaning "double happiness"). The dragon, historically associated with emperors in Chinese culture, is a noble mythical creature capable of controlling the wind and rain. The phoenix represents empresses or females, symbolizing auspiciousness and virtue. Therefore, the dragon and phoenix pattern signifies the harmonious union of the dragon and phoenix, symbolizing auspiciousness and blessings.

Fish pattern, Fish pronounced as "yu" in Chinese, sounds similar to the word "surplus" or "extra." The image of a fish swimming gracefully with its fins and tail raised symbolizes "abundance" and "surplus" year after year.

WU REN WEN

Figure Pattern

Pastry molds are a perfect combination of emotion and art. The patterns on pastry molds predominantly consist of auspicious objects, flowers, and birds, symbolizing good fortune. However, there are also some patterns based on characters and stories from traditional Chinese operas. These patterns not only evoke memories of the characters and stories but also reflect their symbolic meanings.

Patterns featuring figures are often used for blessings and moral teachings. Common examples include patterns depicting the Three Stars of Prosperity, Longevity, and Wealth, as well as the image of a successful scholar returning home in glory, symbolizing auspiciousness.

WU ZHI WEN

Plant Pattern 植物紋

Floral, fruit, and vegetable patterns are widely used in traditional Chinese pastries, symbolizing auspicious meanings such as longevity, wealth, and everlasting youth. Common flower patterns include chrysanthemums, peonies, plum blossoms, and peach blossoms. Fruit patterns often feature pineapples, gourds, lychees, and pomegranates. Leaf patterns may include pine needles, vine scrolls, melon vines, curled grass, and bamboo.

Word Pattern 文字紋

Commonly seen in Chinese pastries are the characters "Fu" , which represents happiness and good fortune, "Lu" , symbolizing blessings and good luck, and "Shou", conveying wishes for longevity. The character "Xi", formed by combining two "Xi" characters, represents the auspiciousness of being paired or double happiness, often associated with the meaning of a fortunate marriage between two auspicious individuals.

SHOU

Festival Pastry 節日糕餅 RI JIE GAO BING

Spring Festival 春節 JIE

The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, falls on the first day of the lunar calendar and is the most grand traditional festival in Chinese folklore. It is a significant occasion for family reunion and joyful celebrations. Various activities are held during this period to express jubilation. These activities primarily revolve around ancestral worship, respecting the elderly, expressing gratitude, praying for blessings, gathering with family, bidding farewell to the old year, embracing the new, and seeking a prosperous harvest. They are imbued with rich ethnic traditions. The dining table during the Spring Festival is adorned with a variety of seasonal delicacies, symbolizing blessings for the new year.

LUO BO GAO

NIAN GAO

Rice Cake

Turnip Cake

Turnip Cake is a traditional cake in Fujian, Guangdong and other regions. The pastry snacks are made by adding pickled radish shreds into rice flour pulp and steaming on the steamer.

YOU JIAO

Yau Gok

Rice cakes is made of rice flour or glutinous rice flour cake, Niangao is also called "Nian Nian Gao", homophonic with "Nian Nian Gao", meaning that the height of children is higher year by year.

JIAN DUI

Yau gok stuffing’s is sweet, Shredded coconut, fried peanuts, sesame, red beans and so on. During the Spring Festival, every household will open a wok of oil and fry some frying oil, which means the coming year will be as oily and rich as that wok.

Sesame balls

Sesame balls is a type of traditional Chinese fried pasta. Sesame balls are made of glutinous rice dough and sesame. Some of them are filled with sesame paste or bean paste. It means " House full of gold and silver."

中秋節 QIU ZHONG JIE

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-fall Festival grew from ancient rites practiced on the eve of the fall season, beginning with the adoration of heavenly bodies. Moon worship, moon gazing, eating mooncakes, and admiring lanterns have all been traditional ways to commemorate the event since ancient times. These customs have been passed down through centuries and are still thriving.

Mooncakes were originally presented as offerings to the Moon god, which represent reunion, have become a traditional celebratory meal used for moon worship and as a gift to loved ones. Mooncake have grown to include distinct tastes from various places.

MEI GUI YUE BING

YUN TUI YUE BING

Rose Mooncake

This mooncake is a traditional delicacy from Yunnan during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It features layers of flaky pastry and a delicious filling made of honey and a unique combination of edible rose petals. With a thin crust and generous filling, it exudes a fragrant aroma.

SHUANG HUANG LIAN RONG YUE BING

雙黃蓮蓉月餅

Lotus Paste Double Yolk Mooncake

This mooncake is a Mid-Autumn Festival food in Guangdong province. The outer layer of the pastry and the sweet filling of the lotus paste, two golden egg yolks dotted between the white lotus paste, the salty egg yolk rustling taste and the lotus paste smooth complement.

This mooncake is made with Yunnan's specialty ham, combined with a filling of honey, lard, and other ingredients. Its surface features a golden-colored shell. The aromatic ham fragrance, sweet and savory honey glaze, offers a comfortable and delightful taste experience.

WU REN YUE BING

Five Nuts Mooncake

The five nuts are olives, walnuts, black melon seeds, white sesame seeds and almonds, and are mixed with sugar winter melon and frozen meat. The entrance can feel the sweet and soft filling, and slowly chew up will find the rich taste of the kernel, and the overall taste is crisp and soft.

Chinese Marriage 中式婚禮

SHI ZHONG HUN LI

Traditional Chinese wedding cakes of Cantonese style are also known as “dowry cakes”. Traditional wedding customs always use several kinds of Tang cakes to get the meaning, and each Tang cake has its own unique stuffing and meaning, which is an indispensable part of traditional Chinese wedding ceremony.

Four-color twill pastries, which is necessary in the wedding cake. “Twills” are meant to represent “expensive cloths”, and therefore, “twill pastries” symbolize prosperity.

Walnut cookie

LIAN RONG JI DAN GAO

Sponge Cake with Lotus Seed Paste

"Walnut," it represents the meaning of "harmony" and "unity." This pastry signifies the harmony between husband and wife.

CHENG LING

Orange

Twill Pastry

Red Twill Pastry HONG LING

LAN REN HE TAO SU 欖仁合桃酥 Yellow

Twill Pastry HUANG LING

Eggs have the meaning of flourishing wealth and spreading branches and leaves, so they have the meaning of being sweet and harmonious and having a precious child every year.

Yellow pastry is usually filled with bean paste. Yellow is also the color of gold, which is a symbol of wealth, so there is a special meaning of gold and silver all over the house.

Red pastry is usually filled with lotus paste or red bean paste. In China tradition, red symbolizes a good omen, which means happiness, good luck, auspiciousness and happiness.

Orange pastry is usually filled with egg yolk and white lotus seed paste, which means golden light, wealth and good luck.

White pastry is usually filled with five kernels; It has the meaning of being white and flawless and growing old together.

Seasonal Pastry 四季糕餅 JI SI BING GAO

LU DA GUN

SONG HUA TUAN ZI

Rolling Donkey

Mochi with Pine Pollen

Rolling donkey is a traditional Manchu snack in China. It originated in Manchuria and later became famous in Beijing. The yellow soybean flour sprinkled over the pastry makes it look like a donkey rolling on the loess, which gave rise to its Chinese name, "Lüdagun" (rolling donkey).

This pastry is a seasonal delicacy in Sucheng. Every year on the eve of the Qingming Festival, pine blossom pollen is collected from the mountains and utilized as a topping for glutinous rice balls. Glutinous rice wraps around the aromatic and sweet sesame, and the cooling scent of pine blossoms spreads in the tongue.

Green Rice Ball

Green Rice Ball is a traditional specialty snack in the Jiangnan region. It is almost always steamed during the Qingming Festival. It is made by mixing mugwort juice into glutinous rice flour and then filled with various fillings such as bean paste, salted egg yolk, or sesame. It carries a light yet lingering fragrance.

QING TUAN

LU DOU GAO

Mung Bean Cake

The primary component is green bean flour. It has a sweet and refreshing flavor and is recognized for its ability to relieve summer heat, satisfy thirst, promote diuresis, reduce swelling, improve eyesight, and cure cataracts. It has a fragrant and gentle taste.

HE HUA SU

Lotus Pastry

Lotus Pastry is a famous snack from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China. It is made from flaky pastry dough and shaped like a lotus flower, with clear layers of crispy pastry. It is often served as a decorative centerpiece during banquets, providing a delightful visual and gustatory experience.

WAN DOU HUANG

Sweet Pea Pudding

This is a seasonal delicacy in Beijing during the springtime. It became famous because Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed it. Made from high-quality white peas, the popular "caowan douhuang" is a typical springtime snack often seen at spring temple fairs.

JU HUA SU

Chrysanthemum Pastry

This is a traditional pastry from Xi'an. It is named after the chrysanthemum flower because chrysanthemums symbolize auspiciousness, longevity, and extraordinary beauty. The pastry is shaped like blooming chrysanthemum flowers, representing prosperity and good fortune.

GUANG HAN GAO

Osmanthus Rice Cake

his is a osmanthus cake made with licorice water. Its name originates from the popular nickname for the moon, "Guanghan Palace". The licorice-infused water provides a natural sweetness and a subtle aroma of osmanthus flowers and herbs. It emanates a delicate fragrance of rice flour, osmanthus, and red bean paste.

ZHONG YANG GAO

Chongyang Cake

This pastry is commonly found in Zhejiang regions. It is made from rice flour and adorned with jujube, chestnut, almond, and other fruit fillings. It is steamed to perfection. On the Double Ninth Festival, there is a custom of eating "Chongyang cake". Eating cake symbolizes continuous progress and advancement.

This is a dessert that appears in the Chinese novels, "A Dream of Red Mansions." The ingredients used in its preparation include jujube, which nourishes blood, Chinese yam, can strengthens the spleen and stomach and nourishes the lungs and kidneys, and goji berries can nourish Yin and promote eye health. These ingredients are mashed together to form a cake.

This is a seasonal delicacy in Beijing during the springtime. It became famous because Empress Dowager Cixi enjoyed it. Made from high-quality white peas, the popular "caowan douhuang" is a typical springtime snack often seen at spring temple fairs.

This is a type of rice cake, and the tradition of eating "Xiaohan cake" has a long history in Beijing. After consuming it, the whole body feels warm, and it has the effects of dispelling cold, nourishing the lungs, and benefiting the spleen and stomach. It symbolizes the coming of a prosperous year, bringing good wishes for prosperity, peace every year, and continuous success.

Xiaohan Cake

XIAO HAN GAO

Hawthorn Cake

SHAN ZHA GAO

Yam and Red Date Cake

ZAO NI SHAN YAO GAO

後記 HOU JI Afterword

Chinese civilization has a long and storied history, with 5,000 years of history giving birth to a rich and colorful folk culture and culinary traditions. Ancient texts like "The Twenty-Four Seasonal Directions" and "The Rites of Zhou - Heavenly Offices" contain detailed records of the manufacturing processes for pastries, showcasing the longevity of this culinary culture.

With diverse cooking methods and an abundance of pastry varieties, they stand witness to the Chinese people's yearning and pursuit of the good life. The aesthetic of eating in harmony with the seasons allows one to feel the changes in climate and the atmosphere of festivals. As the ancients said, "the ancients ate according to the heavens, not eating out of season," emphasizing the wisdom of living in harmony with nature and cherishing the seasonal. Chinese pastries encapsulate the

wisdom crystallization of the Chinese nation, imbued with the profound nostalgia of history and culture. They not only satisfy our physical cravings, but also embody a cultural identity and way of life.

Chinese pastries are not merely delicious food, but an integral part of the long-standing Chinese culture. They are imbued with the Chinese people's yearning and pursuit of the good life.

This pursuit is manifested through the meticulous craftsmanship and unique designs. Whether it's the elegant and refined mooncakes or the auspicious Chinese New Year cakes, each pastry is infused with the craftsmanship and creativity of the artisans. The making of pastries requires excellent baking skills and the careful selection and proportioning of ingredients, reflecting the Chinese attention to detail and pursuit of excellence.

The shapes of the pastries often carry auspicious meanings, embodying the Chinese people's wishes for a prosperous future. When gifting these pastries during important festivals and occasions, it is not just the offering of delicacies, but also the conveyance of heartfelt wishes and the strengthening of emotional connections.

Therefore, appreciating Chinese pastries is not just a pleasure for the taste buds, but also a recognition and identification with Chinese culture. Let us savor this enduring culinary tradition and feel the profound connotations it carries.

"The Mystery of Chinese Pastries" delves deep into the longstanding tradition of Chinese pastry culture. This work is divided into four parts, providing a comprehensive presentation of the production techniques, traditional utensil usage, festival customs, and seasonal changes of Chinese pastries.

It is not only a fascinating journey through history and culture but also a window to observe the spirit of Chinese cuisine. The book showcases the enduring traditions, festive memories, and seasonal flavors carried by Chinese pastries, guiding readers to appreciate the unique charm of Chinese culinary culture and vividly portraying the longing for and pursuit of a better life by the Chinese people.

Author: Ting Ching Yan

Email: tingchingyan@gmail.com

Instagram: _caren.ding_

Behance: Caren Ding