Huguan Small Cart Knife-Cut Cake

Huguan Small Cart Knife-Cut Cake

　　Huguan Small Cart Knife-Cut Cake

　　　　The small cart knife-cut cake is a traditional food made from coarse grains in Huguan. This knife-cut cake is steamed using premium millet and red dates, resulting in a delicate texture and sweet, pleasant aroma. It is a famous local specialty snack in Huguan.

　　　　There is also a legend about the “small cart knife-cut cake.” It is said that 40 kilometers southeast of Huguan County, there lies Zituan Mountain, a place full of peculiar peaks and scenic landscapes. Halfway up the mountain, there is a Purple Cloud Cave, where stalactites come in all kinds of curious and varied shapes. In front of the cave is a White Dragon Pool, where waterfalls cascade down rapidly, resembling a giant dragon descending from the sky. Above the cave sits the White Cloud Temple, home to more than ten monks. Aside from burning incense, praying, maintaining a vegetarian diet, and doing good deeds, the monks took advantage of the natural surroundings to plant jujube trees, millet, foxtail millet, corn, and vegetables around the White Dragon Pool. During festivals, the monks would often make sweet congee using glutinous millet (millet with the husk removed) and red dates to improve their meals. One Spring Festival, the head monk asked a newly arrived young monk to cook congee in the kitchen. While stirring the congee, the young monk accidentally applied too much force with his ladle, scratching a crack in the pot. Afraid to speak up, he let the porridge leak through the crack, turning it into a thicker consistency. When the head monk learned what had happened, he had no choice but to have everyone scoop it into bowls to eat. However, the sticky glutinous millet was difficult to scoop out, so they placed it on a cutting board and sliced it with a knife to serve. The old monk, while eating, remarked, “This sticky, golden, sweet thing should be called glutinous millet and red date cake.” When the young monk grew up, left the monastic life, and returned to secular life, he passed on the technique for making this cake to the people of Huguan. During festivals, the locals would steam this glutinous millet and red date cake and give it as gifts to one another. Wealthier families would even push it out in carts to deliver to relatives and friends, slicing off pieces as they went—this is the origin of the small cart knife-cut cake.