Bean Griddle Cakes 豆斋饼

Bean Griddle Cakes (豆斋饼) are small Changzhou (常州) cakes eaten on their own or cooked with other ingredients in soups and dishes. They have a mild bean fragrance; Changzhou television also describes them as crisp. The small cakes are a familiar addition to the city’s tofu soup.

Beans and rice on the griddle

At her home in Dongzhuang Village (东庄村), Hutang (湖塘), Yang Aying (杨阿英) soaks broad beans overnight. The next morning she washes them, adds and washes long-grain rice, and grinds the mixture into a batter. After stirring, she uses a special mould to shape the cakes on an electric griddle, where they cook in about a minute.

A larger, filled cake

Maker Zhou Pingfan (周平凡) has worked with white cowpeas to recover a finer, more viscous texture. She also developed larger “coin cakes”, or jinqianbing (金钱饼). These are split through the middle and filled with minced meat, shrimp and water chestnuts, then coated in batter and fried.