Mung Bean Cake

Mung Bean Cake

　　　　Rice cake and sliced rice cake, seasonal delicacies in Beijing during spring and summer. Originally a street snack, it later entered the imperial court. The mung bean cake of the Qing palace was made from high-quality white mung beans, resulting in a finished product that is light yellow, delicate, and pure in color, melts in the mouth, and has a sweet, cool, and refreshing taste. It became famous because Empress Dowager Cixi loved to eat it. Its preparation involves grinding the mung beans, removing the skins, washing, boiling until soft, stir-frying with sugar, congealing, and then cutting into pieces. Traditional methods also include embedding jujube flesh. The version made at Fangshan Restaurant is the most famous.

　　　　The coarse mung bean cake of the common folk is a typical springtime food, commonly seen at spring temple fairs. For example, at the Pan Tao Palace on the third day of the third lunar month, "small jujube coarse mung bean cake" is a seasonal delicacy. When vendors shout, "Hey, here’s the small jujube mung bean cake, big pieces here!" it feels like they’re heralding the arrival of spring and bringing warmth.

　　　　"Coarse mung bean cake" is made by peeling white mung beans, stewing them in twice the amount of water until soft, then adding sugar and stir-frying, followed by mixing in gypsum water and cooked jujubes. The mixture is then poured into a large sand pot, and once it cools and solidifies into a block, it is turned out and cut into diamond-shaped slices like sliced rice cake. Small slices of golden cake are added as decoration. It is usually sold from a wheelbarrow covered with a damp blue cloth, and the trade is mostly run by locals from Pinggu and Xianghe in eastern Beijing, as well as Caiyu in southern Beijing.

　　　　"Fine mung bean cake" was an improved version of the common folk's small jujube coarse mung bean cake, created by the Qing palace’s imperial kitchen. Its preparation is more refined: the mung beans are boiled until soft, sieved into a paste, then mixed with white sugar and osmanthus. After congealing, it is cut into small squares about two inches across and less than half an inch thick, with a few slices of honey cake placed on top. It has excellent color and flavor, a delicate and pure texture, melts in the mouth, and is considered a premium product. After the Republic of China period, the Fine Mung Bean Cake was sold at Yi Lan Tang Restaurant in Beihai Park and at Fangshan Teahouse, packed in cardboard boxes with ten pieces per box. Alongside red bean cake and small steamed cornbread, it is known as one of the imperial snacks.