Guobing

Guobing

　　Guobing is slightly larger than huangsongbing (yellow crisp cake), not flaky, with thick dough around the edges, and has a pure and delicate flavor. It is usually eaten as a dry snack. At the crossroads in Chengguan, there was a man nicknamed "Golden Flea" who made particularly large and delicious guobing. However, he didn’t make many each day, so they were often in short supply. As a result, he set a rule that each person could only buy one. One day, a vegetable vendor wanted to buy two, but he firmly refused. Later, the vendor said, “I want to take one back for my mother.” Hearing this, he burst out laughing and said, “You’re a filial son—fine, I’ll sell you two!”

　　There are several ways to make guobing. One type is diamond-shaped, filled with broad bean paste and red chili, sometimes with scallions added. It has a rich sauce flavor and a pleasant texture, known as Chongdan Guobing. Another type resembles the sole of a straw sandal and is thus called Caoxiebanzi. It is crispy on the outside and soft inside, with distinct layers, fragrant sesame, and a mildly spicy and salty taste from pepper. A round variety with sugar in the center, full in shape and golden in color, is sweet, crisp, and refreshing, called Tangbingzi. Then there’s the lard cake, which has a complete mix of ingredients and is finely made. During preparation, the dough is not fermented and uses sub-dough, while the filling is made by chopping raw pork leaf lard and scallions together. It can be served as a casual breakfast snack or as a dim sum for banquets. Liu Shuangsheng from Chengguan is well-known for making excellent lard cakes. His “Ox-Eye Lard Cakes” are baked in batches of sixty or seventy per oven load. After baking, when the oven door is closed, the aroma that wafts out can perfume half the street. People recognize the buttery fragrance as a sign that Liu’s lard cakes are almost ready, and buyers quickly line up by the oven to wait.