Crispy Fire Cake

Crispy Fire Cake

　　Crispy Fire Cake is one of the well-known snacks in Changzhi City, Shanxi Province. It is made from high-quality wheat flour and eggs, with dough kneaded using cooked donkey fat or lard, and then baked. The cake has a light, pure yellow color and a deliciously crispy and fragrant taste. It can be served as a staple food or as a snack.

　　 Changzhi's "Crispy Fire Cake" is a small, golden, crispy, flavorful, and beautifully shaped baked good about the size of a dried persimmon, made by wrapping an oil-water dough around a donkey-fat flaky crust and baking it over charcoal fire. Hence, it is also called "Donkey Fat Flaky Fire Cake." In the Changzhi region, the Crispy Fire Cake, along with cold noodles and cured meat (donkey meat), is known as one of the "Three Treasures." Legend has it that it was once honored by imperial decree during the Qing Dynasty. The story goes that when Empress Dowager Cixi was four years old, her family suffered misfortune. Her father carried her on his back to Gaohé Village, intending to sell her, but no one showed interest until nightfall. A kind baker, seeing her cold and hungry, gave her a freshly baked hot fire cake. Later, when Cixi became the adopted daughter of Magistrate Huizheng of Luzhou Prefecture, she often had the government kitchen buy fire cakes for her from Tian Di Jiu on West Street and De Sheng Zhai on East Street. Even after entering the imperial palace, she continued to have officials traveling to Luzhou Prefecture bring her Crispy Fire Cakes. Learning of this, the local government sought to please the Empress Dowager by packaging specially prepared fire cakes from "De Sheng Zhai" and "Tian Di Jiu" in winter with yellow paper and red ribbons, stamped with the official seal of Luzhou Prefecture, and sending them to Beijing for her enjoyment. They thus became a tribute to the imperial court.

　　 As for the taste and benefits of Changzhi’s Crispy Fire Cake, socialites and loyal regulars have long summed it up as follows:

　　 In spring, cured meat paired with a fire cake beats the taste of Northeastern ptarmigan.

　　 In summer, cold noodles with a fire cake melt in your mouth like a peach.

　　 In autumn, wontons served with a fire cake fill the air with fragrance for miles.

　　 In winter, pork jelly with a fire cake helps treat anemia and relieves fatigue.

　　 The "Crispy Fire Cake" has been a specialty in Changzhi for over 300 years. In the early years of the Republic of China, there were more than ten fire cake shops in Changzhi City, mainly selling baked and fried goods such as Crispy Fire Cakes, sweet triangular buns, small new cakes, and fried dough twists. Among them, De Sheng Zhai on East Street and Tian Di Jiu on West Street were especially praised by locals for the excellent quality and authentic flavors of their various products. Cui Haijin (from Beishicáo, Changzhi), a former baker at De Sheng Zhai, shared his secrets for making the perfect Crispy Fire Cake when interviewed in 1974 by the author while compiling the book “Basic Knowledge of Culinary Techniques in Southeastern Shanxi.” He said the key was “three-two-three”: the cakes stay delicious even after three months. The first “three” refers to the use of donkey fat, sesame oil, and blended soybean oil; the “two” indicates two shapes—round and oval; the second “three” denotes three flavor profiles—savory, sweet, and unique. The cakes are flaky, thinly layered, golden in color with perfect baking, fragrant when fresh out of the oven, and remain flavorful even when stored cold. During the 1970s–80s, the Crispy Fire Cakes made by Dongjie Restaurant under the Changzhi City Catering Company were rated as “Trustworthy Products” by the Changzhi Municipal Government. The Crispy Fire Cakes made by Niu Jinxi at Xinmin Restaurant in Changzhi, as well as the traditional recipe reintroduced in 2005 by 80-year-old Guo Zhenhua, formerly of Yihéyuán Pastry Shop, were highly praised by locals and earned the title of “Shangdang Delicacy” from the Changzhi Famous Foods Research Association. In 2004, Niu Jinxi’s Crispy Fire Cakes won the “Shanxi Famous Food” award at the 4th Shanxi Culinary Competition “Fenjiu Cup.”