Lianchen Cake

Lianchen Cake

　　Made from fermented rice paste and steamed. The cake has a crystal-clear, snow-white body with a smooth, glossy surface; its inner layer features evenly spaced, interconnected tiny holes in neat rows; the texture is soft, smooth, and refreshing, with a sweet, crisp, and fragrant taste. This delicacy gets its name from Lianchen Town in Shunde County, where it was first created, and it has a history of several hundred years. The Shunde County Annals, compiled during the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, records: “Lianchen Cake—during the late Ming Dynasty, scholars and officials would often travel more than a hundred li just to come here by boat. In fact, at that time there was only one renowned maker, located beside the bridge at Huafeng Market. There was a stone in the riverbed beneath their shop that oozed spring water. They placed the sugar on this stone to wash it, which clarified and purified it, removing impurities—an advantage not available to others.” Later generations adopted the method of adding egg whites while boiling the sugar to clarify it, and this technique has been passed down through the ages, spreading along with overseas Chinese to various parts of Southeast Asia.