Xitang Bazhen Cake

Xitang Bazhen Cake

　　　　Product Name: Xitang Bazhen Cake

　　　　Place of Origin: Xitang

　　　　Category: Pastry

　　　　Product Features: The Bazhen Cake has a grayish-brown color, a fragrant aroma that stimulates the appetite, moderate sweetness, and a crisp, delicious taste. It helps strengthen the spleen and stomach, invigorate vitality, regulate qi, relieve diarrhea, and aid digestion. It has no medicinal aftertaste, making it especially suitable for children and those recovering from illness.

　　　　Ingredients: 100g hawthorn (stir-fried), 20g malt (stir-fried), 20g lablab bean (stir-fried), 15g coix seed, 10g gorgon fruit (stir-fried), 10g Chinese yam, 10g poria (stir-fried), 10g lotus seed (seed core removed), 3,360g cane sugar, 2,475g glutinous rice flour (stir-fried), 1,650g non-glutinous rice flour (stir-fried)

　　Product Efficacy: Aids digestion and harmonizes the stomach, strengthens the spleen and eliminates dampness. Used for children who are weak, have a sallow complexion and thin body, spleen-stomach dampness, reduced appetite, and abdominal distension.

　　　　Product Introduction: Bazhen Cake is a traditional specialty of Xitang. It is both a medicinal product and a pastry, with a long history and widespread acclaim. It is a unique delicacy among cakes. As early as 1920, Zhong Daosheng, an experienced traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in Xitang, created it based on the ancient formula from “Orthodox Manual of External Diseases” and his own clinical experience. The production method involves grinding eight types of Chinese herbs into powder and sifting them, then dissolving cane sugar in an appropriate amount of water and heating it into syrup. The ingredients are mixed according to the formula, steamed, formed into strips, sliced into thin pieces, and dried to obtain the final product. Before 1956, it was produced and sold at Zhong Jiefu Tang Traditional Chinese Medicine Shop. After the public-private partnership, the cake makers and the original recipe were transferred to Xitang Food Factory, leading to a significant increase in production. The product was also sold to major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, where it became very popular among the general public, especially children.

　　Product History: On a day in September during the sixth year of the Guangxu reign in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi fell ill in the palace due to her preference for greasy and rich foods. She lost her appetite, suffered from indigestion, bloating, nausea, vomiting, loose stools, and felt depressed. The imperial physicians were extremely worried. Led by Physician Li Desheng, a group of imperial doctors diagnosed “Her Majesty” and concluded that the illness was caused by weakness in the spleen and stomach. After discussion, they agreed to tonify her spleen and stomach and prescribed a formula consisting of eight ingredients that are both food and medicine: 2 taels each of poria, gorgon fruit, lotus seed, coix seed, Chinese yam, lablab bean, malt, and lotus root starch. These were ground into fine powder, mixed with 7 taels of white sugar, blended with water, and made into a cake, which they named “Spleen-Strengthening Cake.” A few days after eating this cake, the Empress Dowager’s symptoms completely disappeared, her appetite increased significantly, and she felt energetic. Pleased, she renamed the “Spleen-Strengthening Cake” to “Bazhen Cake.” Since then, “Bazhen Cake” became one of Empress Dowager Cixi’s favorite foods. Whether she was ill or not, she always had the imperial kitchen prepare “Bazhen Cake” for her.