Crab-Shell Sesame Pastries 蟹壳黄
Crab-Shell Sesame Pastries is featured among the local specialties of Jiangsu.
Crab-Shell Sesame Pastries (蟹壳黄) are small, round baked pastries that Chinese Wikipedia lists as a local snack of Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui, and as one of the speciality snacks of the area around Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.
How it is made
The pastry is baked until crisp, and it comes out golden or orange-yellow. The name, literally "crab-shell yellow", comes from that colour and shape: a finished pastry looks like the shell of a cooked crab. There is no crab in the standard fillings. The pastry is also commonly called xiao magao (小麻糕), "small sesame cake".
Fillings and flavour
Chinese Wikipedia lists four fillings: shepherd's purse, spring onion oil, white sugar, and a sweet bean paste made with clear oil (明油豆沙). It describes the pastry as rich in oil but not greasy, fragrant, crisp and flaky; the sweet fillings are mellow and the savoury ones taste fresh.
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Changzhou sesame pastries 常州大麻糕 →
Crab-shell pastries are commonly called 'small sesame cake' (小麻糕); Changzhou's sesame pastries are another flaky baked pastry of the same region.
Source introduction: Wikipedia contributors: 蟹壳黄 · CC BY-SA 4.0. English translation and adaptation of the cited encyclopedia revision.
Sources & reading
Adapted into English from the cited encyclopedia revision and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-25. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.