Zhongjiang Eight-Treasure Pastry 中江八宝油糕
Zhongjiang Eight-Treasure Pastry is featured among the local specialties of Sichuan.
Zhongjiang Eight-Treasure Pastry (中江八宝油糕) is a plum-blossom-shaped pastry from Zhongjiang (中江), with a crisp exterior and soft interior. Its wheat-flour base is enriched with eight ingredients: eggs, white sugar, honey, peanuts, candied melon, walnuts, candied cherries and rose paste.
Flavour and texture
The Zhongjiang culture and tourism bureau (中江县文旅局) describes a glossy, brownish-yellow surface and a fragrant pastry that is rich without feeling greasy. Its 2022 account records more than twenty varieties, retaining the blossom shape and the contrast between crispness and softness.
The dried citrus-peel version has a pronounced citrus aroma and golden colour. Rose paste gives another version its floral fragrance; an egg-yolk version contains an embedded yolk. A green-juice version has a green body and a fresh aroma.
Where it comes from
Citing the Zhongjiang County Gazetteer (中江县志), the county bureau identifies Taihelong confectionery (泰和隆糖果铺) on Gulou Street (鼓楼街) as an early maker in the late Qing dynasty. During the Republican period, the county town had eleven shops selling Beijing-style (北京) confectionery, with this pastry particularly well known. It was eaten at banquets and tea gatherings and exchanged as a gift. The bureau also notes its continued role in visits to relatives and friends, especially around holidays.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.