Wenling Stuffed Cake

Wenling Stuffed Cake

　　Wenling Stuffed Cake is a specialty snack from Wenling City, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. There are many delicious foods in Wenling, but the Stuffed Cake stands out as the most distinctive local dish. No one has ever heard of this type of stuffed cake being made elsewhere, nor has anyone heard of a Wenling native who doesn’t love it.

　　Wenling Stuffed Cake, also known as Wenling Sandwich Cake, is a unique Han Chinese-style cake snack. (In the local dialect, it’s called “gie gao.”) In Wenling’s Chengnan area, there is a custom where rural communities still make “Stuffed Cake” on the 15th day of the 10th lunar month, which is the ancient “Lower Yuan Festival.”

　　The way to make Wenling Stuffed Cake is as follows: flatten a small piece of rice cake by hand on both sides (this is the key to success, as the rice cake is very sticky and hot, and many people struggle to complete this step properly), then add your favorite fillings according to personal taste — similar to a wheat crepe roll — typically including fried noodles, shredded radish, shredded potato, pork, etc. The price is usually based on how much pork is added. Once the fillings are in place, the next crucial step is to fold and seal the rice cake to form a ruffled edge, shaping it somewhat like a dumpling. If this step isn’t done well, the rice cake can easily fall apart. Then put it in a plastic bag, add some pork soup, and you’re all set. For an extra treat, you can also have a bowl of tofu sheng or mung bean noodles with a bit of pork soup — absolutely delicious!

　　Nowadays, as more and more Wenling natives engage in business outside their hometown, you can often see Wenling locals selling Stuffed Cake around markets in many places, and their businesses are usually doing very well.