Chuantongmianshi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
"Pingyao's beef and Taigu's cakes"—the Taigu cake is a highly representative Shanxi local specialty, on par with Pingyao beef, founded during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty, with a history of 160 years to date.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The traditional Taigu cake craft is a traditional pasta-making craft, centered on Taigu District, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province (formerly Taigu County; on December 9, 2019, with the approval of the State Council, the county was abolished and made a district), and radiating to surrounding areas. Taigu District lies in the northeast of the Jinzhong Basin in Shanxi Province, with a warm-temperate continental climate; its southeast is rugged with hills and threaded by rivers and canals, with clean water, fertile land, and abundant produce. The local winter wheat and the millet used to produce maltose syrup are plump and of excellent quality, providing abundant and fine raw materials for Taigu cake production. The traditional Taigu cake craft inherits the principles of China's traditional food "hubing" (a kind of baked food introduced from the Western Regions) while having its own characteristics. In making the Taigu cake, specific main and auxiliary ingredients are carefully selected; the raw-material formula is quite particular. First, flour is combined with white rock sugar, millet maltose, Saibei sesame oil, honey, plus alkali noodles and baking soda, thoroughly stirred, then after fermentation, dough-mixing, turning, and kneading, a special hot-dough double-baking process is used to form round cakes. The finished Taigu cake has a tea-yellow surface dotted with peeled white sesame seeds; it is crisp, soft, fragrant, and sweet—crisp yet not crumbly, sweet yet not greasy, fragrant and delicious, and stays soft when kept for a long time. It is a product of the heyday of Taigu County's commerce, the hometown of the Shanxi merchants, closely tied to the production and life of the Shanxi merchants. The traditional Taigu cake craft has distinct regional cultural characteristics; it is a typical representative of Shanxi pastry craft and an important survival of the Han people's adoption of Western Regions pastry techniques. Its transmission and development serve as good witness and reference for studying the history and evolution of China's food culture.
The sugar, millet and oil formula
Flour with rock sugar, millet flour, northern sesame oil, honey, alkali and baking soda, combining sweetness, fragrance and crispness in one bake.
Fermenting, mixing and kneading
The dough is fermented, mixed, turned and kneaded so that sugar and oil are evenly enveloped through the wheat flour.
Scald-dough and flip-baking
A special scald-and-flip method turns the dough into round cakes, with the timing of the flip deciding the colour of the crust.
Sesame crust and tea-yellow surface
The finished cake has a tea-yellow skin stuck with blanched white sesame, crisp yet not crumbling, sweet yet not cloying, and soft even after long keeping.
A survivor of the huobing method
The craft inherits the principles of the huobing cake introduced from the Western Regions, localised in its ingredients and shape.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Taigu cake spreads with Taigu District, Jinzhong City, as its core, diffusing to Pingyao, Jiexiu, Yuci, and villages around Taigu in the southeast of the Jinzhong Basin, and crossing provincial borders via the Shanxi merchants' carts and inns to Hebei, Henan, and Inner Mongolia. In the northern end of the Jinzhong Basin, Taigu was changed from county to district and its administrative name altered, but the cake bearing the name "Taigu" was never renamed—the cake's title travels with the trade routes, which is the key to this local specialty's survival across regions. Around Taigu, the shaobing (baked cake) shops mostly set up stalls along the street, baking and selling on the spot; the cakes must be eaten hot to show their crispness. The Taigu cake is also often given as a gift and taken as travel provisions, carried out along with the Shanxi merchants' caravans, temple fairs, and visiting relatives and friends; thus its spread relies not on signboards but on cartloads of cakes and pairs of outstretched hands.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, the fifth-generation inheritor of this craft, while upholding the traditional craft, actively trains successors and vigorously promotes the craft's spread and development by building a Taigu cake traditional-culture museum, an experience hall, and a culture park. At the same time, its long process of transmission has important historical-source value for studying the history of modern Chinese social development and Shanxi-merchant culture.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Qingai 04-1907
- Li Huizhong 05-2858
- Li Jiangang 05-2859
- Jia Zhiliang
- Rexiti Yimiti
- Hatamusha Nuer
- Yu Zhenling
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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