Crispy Wire Cake

Crispy Wire Cake

　　Crispy Wire Cake

　　The “Half Dumpling” is a famous snack from Xiangyuan County, originally called “Crispy Wire Cake.” It has a golden color, is crispy and fragrant when dry, and leaves a lingering aftertaste with endless charm. It is made by mixing fermented dough starter with dry flour and alkali solution, kneading it evenly and thoroughly, then forming it into an oval-shaped cake dough. The dough is then cut in half, placed on a flat griddle, and baked over charcoal fire. Because it is half a cake, it is called the “Half Dumpling.”

　　Why is it called the “Half Dumpling”? Legend has it that when Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu, a descendant of the Han imperial family, raised an army to rebel against him. But when preparing to attack a place called Wancheng, he was blocked by the main forces led by Wang Mang’s general Zhen Qiuci. After a fierce battle, Liu Xiu was defeated and retreated. He fled alone on horseback, begging for food along the way until he took refuge in Shibei Village, Xiangyuan. One day, the starving Liu Xiu fainted to the ground. A vendor named Master Guo, feeling pity for him, broke off half of a freshly baked “Crispy Wire Cake” and gave it to Liu Xiu to eat. Liu Xiu, desperate with hunger, wolfed it down without hesitation. After finishing it, he knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Master Guo three times, and said, “If I ever make it in life, I will repay you handsomely!” Then he got up and left. Everyone thought he was just talking nonsense because he had fainted from hunger.

　　Later, when Liu Xiu ascended the throne and became emperor, surrounded by delicacies every day, he found them all tasteless. One day, he suddenly remembered the half “Crispy Wire Cake” he had eaten during his hardship in Shibei Village, Xiangyuan. He then sent for Master Guo to be brought to the capital for a feast. Master Guo taught the imperial kitchen how to make the “Crispy Wire Cake.” When Liu Xiu ate the fragrant and delicious cake, he said, “The taste is about the same, but why is the shape different?” Master Guo replied, “Back then, I broke half of a cake to give to you.” Liu Xiu responded, “That half cake saved my life; otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I think you should cut it in half and call it the ‘Half Dumpling.’” After returning home, Master Guo added an extra step of cutting the originally round “Crispy Wire Cake” in the making process. To follow the emperor’s decree, the Crispy Wire Cake was renamed the “Half Dumpling,” and it has been passed down to this day.