Foshan Munguan Cake

Foshan Munguan Cake

　　Produced in Foshan, Guangdong.

　　Legend has it that a blind old man named He Shengchao opened a fortune-telling shop called "Qianlong Hall" on the main street of Foshan Ancestral Temple. With so many families bringing children to have their fortunes told, the noise was overwhelming. To keep the children quiet, his son He Yuzhai created and sold meat pies. Because these pies were sold at the blind man’s shop, they were named Munguan cakes.

　　Features: Made with pure ingredients and crafted skillfully, Munguan cakes are delicious and have a long shelf life. Long-stored Munguan cakes are known as Zhanjiang Weirenhua Cake.

　　　The blind man’s name was He Shengchao. At the age of eight, he became blind due to poverty and illness, as he couldn’t afford medical treatment. At ten, he began studying divination and, after mastering it, opened a fortune-telling shop called "Qiánqián Hall" at Jiaoshanfangkou in the city, gaining the trust of many locals. He had two sons, one named Yin Yuan and the other Foshan Munguan Cake

　　Fenxing (courtesy name Yuzhai). Fenxing helped his father in the shop. As many clients brought crying children, the noise disrupted their work. Fenxing came up with an idea: he ground toasted rice into powder, mixed it with sesame and peanuts, added lard, and made rice cakes, which he called "meat pies." (The original molds for Munguan cakes still bear the words "meat pie.") These could be sold to clients to feed their children and also help supplement the family income. The unique taste and low price quickly gained popularity. Neighbors tried to copy and sell similar products, but none matched the quality of the original, so people flocked to He Shengchao’s shop. Customers began calling the meat pies "Munguan cakes," and the name stuck. In feudal society, blind people disliked being called "blind man," so for over a hundred years, despite the cake’s fame, his descendants avoided using the name "Munguan cake" and instead sold them as "Heji Meatheart Cakes." It wasn’t until 1952, after the liberation, when Foshan participated in the South China Trade Fair to promote local specialties, that the official trademark "Munguan Cake" was established.

　　 Production and Sales History of Munguan Cakes

　　　　After gaining popularity, Munguan cakes became widely purchased and were often given as gifts. Initially, the cakes were larger than copper coins and did not contain pork filling. It wasn’t until 1875 that, in pursuit of better quality, pork filling was added. After the brand "Heji" was established, production employed 12–13 workers, though only 7–8 were actively involved. Daily output was around 10,000 pounds, peaking between 1933 and 1936 when production hours extended to 15–16 hours a day, yielding over 20,000 pounds daily. Most sales went to Dongguan and Shilong, and travelers from within the province and Hong Kong-Macau often bought the cakes as gifts. Before liberation, Heji sold cakes directly from its old shop at He Yuan She without wholesale or agents, and exports were minimal—just 4,800 pounds the year before the Anti-Japanese War, packed in iron cans (without pork filling) and shipped overseas. During the Japanese invasion, Foshan fell, and chaos ensued, devastating sales. Most workers returned to farming. The cakes shrank in size and were sold in tubes of ten instead of individually. Daily production dropped to 300–400 cakes, and business suffered, sometimes halting for days. After the war, production recovered slightly, and workers returned, but under the Nationalist regime, output remained low—just 30,000 small cakes daily, equivalent to 15,000 large pre-war cakes, still below pre-war levels.

　　 Production Features

　　　　Munguan cake production differs from typical baked goods. While most use wheat flour, Munguan cakes are made entirely from glutinous rice, combined with premium ingredients like sugar, peanuts, sesame, pork, and lard. The pork filling is marinated in fine sugar for months (or at least days) before use, resulting in a deliciously crispy and savory taste renowned worldwide. For over a century, traditional methods used clay pots for baking, with workers sitting during production—a highly inefficient process. It wasn’t until 1955, after public-private partnerships were formed, that production switched to standing workstations with flat surfaces, greatly improving efficiency. Today, the cakes come in two sizes: large tubes of six and small tubes of ten. Export or gift versions are packaged in paper boxes or iron cans.