Half-Moon Cake

Last updated 2026-11-12 — “Half-Moon Cake” is a traditional festive food eaten during the annual Lantern Festival. In the days leading up to the festival, people are busy sifting rice and grinding the fine grains into flour. Children carry bamboo baskets along the riverbanks and slopes, using small trowels to dig up shepherd’s purse (also known as shepherd’s purse or groundweed), which is used as the filling. The locals in Yingcheng commonly refer to celebrating the Lantern Festival as celebrating “the Half-Moon,” hence this delicate rice cake is also called “Half-Moon Cake.” When someone makes these cakes, they are also given as gifts to neighbors, relatives, and close friends, as a way of wishing each other a year full of completeness and good fortune. The steamed cakes are eaten on the day they are made, while the rest are hung in bamboo baskets. Later, during each meal, a few cakes are taken down and placed in the stove’s residual heat to be slowly warmed. After a while, they are taken out—coated with a deep yellow crust—and offer a uniquely delightful taste. In the past, there were street vendors in Yingcheng who specialized in baking these fine rice cakes. They would place the steamed cakes on the iron mesh of a stove, constantly flipping them by hand to ensure even heating. Soon, a sizzling sound would be heard, and a fragrant aroma would waft through the air. The cakes would end up baked golden and crispy on the outside, yet soft and cooked inside—truly mouthwatering.