Dongmei Aromatic Cake

Dongmei Aromatic Cake

　　Dongmei Aromatic Cake is a specialty of Dongmei Village, Jiaomei Town, Longhai City, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. Also known as Aromatic Cake or Qingchun Cake, Dongmei Qingchun Aromatic Cake melts in your mouth, has a cooling and soothing effect on the throat, and can be served not only as premium tea accompaniment but also mixed into paste to make a delicious dish for the elderly and children.

　　Dongmei Aromatic Cake originated in Dongmei Village, Jiaomei Town, Longhai City, and has a history of over 300 years. In 2010, the craft of making Dongmei Aromatic Cake was included in the fourth batch of intangible cultural heritage of Zhangzhou City.

　　Dongmei Village is located in the southwest of Jiaomei Town and boasts a long history. The village still retains several Taoist temples and stone memorial archways built during the Ming Dynasty. During the late Ming and early Qing periods, many locals went abroad to Southeast Asia to seek their fortunes, making it a well-known overseas Chinese village. Situated on a fertile plain, the area enjoys abundant and diverse food sources, leading to the Dongmei people’s meticulous approach to cooking and food preparation. There is an ancient street in the village called Huoshao Street, which used to be lined with snack shops, filling the air with cooking smoke from dawn till dusk—hence the name “Fire Street.” Over time, the lively atmosphere of Huoshao Street has faded, but another nearby ancient street—Houmian Street—has gained everlasting fame thanks to a certain snack.

　　Legend has it that during the Chongzhen era of the Ming Dynasty, an elderly man surnamed Guo from Houmian Street created a type of cake using ground mung beans as the main ingredient. This cake was fragrant, melt-in-the-mouth, and had a cooling effect on the throat, quickly winning the hearts of the locals, who called it Aromatic Cake. When drinking oolong tea, the people of Dongmei often paired it with a piece of Aromatic Cake, and it was also commonly made into a paste to feed babies. During festivals and celebrations, every household would prepare Dongmei Aromatic Cake to entertain relatives and friends. After more than 300 years of inheritance, Dongmei Aromatic Cake evolved from a simple tea accompaniment to a symbol of Minnan folk culture. To this day, it remains an essential gift for weddings, birthdays, celebrations, and ancestral worship ceremonies in the Longhai region.

　　The making of Aromatic Cake involves eight meticulous steps: roasting mung bean flour, processing scallions, mixing and kneading, hand-stamping, and more. Each step is a delicate process requiring great care. Mung bean flour is the main ingredient. First, freshly harvested mung beans are ground into fine powder, then roasted, sieved, crushed, and roasted again—this process is repeated at least three times. The roasted flour is then stored in large jars and kept in a cool, dry place. After being transferred between jars several times over a period of about 30 to 40 days, it is ready for use. Once all ingredients—including mung bean flour, crispy red onions, and cane sugar powder—are prepared, they are mixed together by hand in precise proportions, stirred and kneaded evenly to form the cake batter. The batter is then filled into hand-carved rosewood molds, pressed firmly, turned over, and tapped out to create the final Dongmei Aromatic Cake.

　　In the past, there were several workshops in Dongmei Village that produced Aromatic Cake. However, with the passage of time and the low profitability of the industry, the production of Aromatic Cake gradually declined. Jiaying Food Factory is the largest among the few remaining workshops.