Spiced Beans

Spiced Beans

　　Spiced Beans

　　Spiced beans, also known as "Scholar's Beans," got their name during the Ming and Qing dynasties when students taking the imperial exams at the Jiangnan Examination Hall in southern China liked to bring them along. These beans are made from fava beans, and to this day, a children’s rhyme still circulates in Nanjing: “Spiced beans, truly fragrant, fragrant inside the city and even more outside…”

　　Currently, the place in Nanjing that preserves the authentic taste of spiced beans is Kuiguang Pavilion in the Confucius Temple area. When talking about Kuiguang Pavilion’s spiced beans, one can’t leave out another signature snack from the shop — spiced eggs. While spiced eggs can be found all over China, it is Kuiguang Pavilion that truly makes them special in flavor. The spiced beans and spiced eggs from Kuiguang Pavilion are hailed as the “unparalleled duo” among street snacks.