Kaihua Steam Cake 开化汽糕

Kaihua Steam Cake (开化汽糕) is a rice-flour cake from Kaihua (开化), also called Qiyueban (七月半). A September 2024 cultural feature jointly produced by the Zhejiang social-science federation (浙江省社会科学界联合会) and Tide News (潮新闻) describes it as made from local glutinous rice flour and used in seasonal observances honouring ancestors.

Sweet and savoury forms

Chilli shreds and assorted vegetable shreds can be placed on the surface. Tide News also describes cakes made with local vegetables, chilli and cured pork, alongside sweet versions. Fresh cakes are round, translucent, fragrant and soft with a sticky rice texture.

Varieties and serving

The named varieties include camellia-oil qigao (山茶油汽糕), wufan qigao (乌饭汽糕), Wucheng dried-tofu qigao (五城豆腐干汽糕) and Changhong dried qigao (长虹汽糕干). The cakes can also be pan-fried or roasted, paired with rice porridge, or dipped in chilli sauce.