Min County Pastries 岷县点心

Min County Pastries (岷县点心) are flaky, filled pastries baked on an iron griddle in Min County (岷县), the southernmost county of Dingxi (定西) in Gansu. They are a tea pastry with a thin golden crust, and their making technique has been on Gansu's provincial intangible cultural heritage list since 2011.

How it is made

At the workshop of Wang Bangjing (王邦井), a registered inheritor of the technique who learned it from his grandfather, a water-and-oil dough and an oil paste mixed in set proportions are rolled up, folded and pressed again and again until they form a soft, thin flaky pastry. Fillings include crushed peanuts, walnut kernels, sugared rose petals (糖玫瑰) and black sesame, as well as a five-kernel (五仁) mix. Gansu Daily adds red and green candied shreds, rock sugar, kumquat, flaxseed oil (胡麻油) and spices to the list of filling ingredients. Each pastry is wrapped round its filling, sealed, pressed into a mould and knocked out, then set in rows on an iron griddle (铁鏊) over a low fire until the crust turns golden. Wang counts 26 steps in all, and he still works by hand although machines can now be used.

Flavour and texture

Miao Jing (苗菁), director of the Min County intangible heritage centre, lists its features: a crust as thin as paper, a golden colour, a crisp yet soft bite, and richness without greasiness. Fresh from the griddle the crust flakes at a touch. The rose filling should still let you feel the petals, and the five-kernel filling should keep a feel of whole nut pieces. Newer flavours include chestnut, matcha, and astragalus with red dates.

Where it comes from

Min County was once known as the 'dry wharf of Longshang' (陇上旱码头), an overland trading post. Guangming Daily explains that merchants passing through brought pastry techniques from many regions, which local craftsmen combined into this tea pastry. The Minzhou gazetteer (岷州志) records that honoured guests were served milk tea with several small dishes of dian (点), which the paper reads as these pastries. The processing technique entered Gansu's third provincial heritage list in 2011.

How it is eaten

The pastries belong to Spring Festival. From the Laba festival (腊八) onwards the lanes of Min County carry a sweet smell, and the pastries appear at New Year family meals and are the most welcome gift when visiting relatives. They used to be wrapped in brown paper and tied with hemp string, and their round golden shape stands for a prosperous, united family.