flipYellow Pea Cake (豌豆黄, wāndòuhuáng)
Yellow Pea Cake (豌豆黄, wāndòuhuáng)
Why this dish? Wandouhuang was originally a Beijing street snack that Cixi, it is said, enjoyed so much that she adopted it at court, where pastry chefs refined it into a smooth, translucent sweetness.
A melting jelly of sweetened yellow split pea purée, set cold then cut into pale yellow diamonds. Cool, mild, barely sweet: the quintessential summer treat.
They had Us taste it one summer day, and We found that this little yellow cube was worth many precious confections. See how humble it is: nothing but yellow peas, sugar, and the patience to pass them through a sieve until no roughness remains. We wanted it refined in Our kitchens—smoother, cooler, set in the ice from Our reserves. Take a diamond with your fingertips: it melts before you even bite it. The court is not ashamed to love what the street invents.
- •Yellow split peas — a measure (base)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Spring water — as needed (cooking)
Yellow Pea Cake (豌豆黄, wāndòuhuáng)
A melting jelly of sweetened yellow split pea purée, set cold then cut into pale yellow diamonds. Cool, mild, barely sweet: the quintessential summer treat.
Why this dish? Wandouhuang was originally a Beijing street snack that Cixi, it is said, enjoyed so much that she adopted it at court, where pastry chefs refined it into a smooth, translucent sweetness.
They had Us taste it one summer day, and We found that this little yellow cube was worth many precious confections. See how humble it is: nothing but yellow peas, sugar, and the patience to pass them through a sieve until no roughness remains. We wanted it refined in Our kitchens—smoother, cooler, set in the ice from Our reserves. Take a diamond with your fingertips: it melts before you even bite it. The court is not ashamed to love what the street invents.
Ingredients (period version)
- Yellow split peas — a measure (base)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Spring water — as needed (cooking)
Ingredients
- Yellow split peas — 250 g (base)
- Sugar — 100 g (adjust to taste) (sweetness)
- Water — 700 ml (cooking)
- Agar-agar (optional, for cleaner set) — 2 g (structure)
Method
- Soak the yellow peas for several hours, then cook in water until they mash easily.
- Blend and pass through a fine sieve for a perfectly smooth purée.
- Return to low heat with sugar (and agar if used), stirring until slightly thickened.
- Pour into a mold, smooth the surface, let set in the refrigerator for several hours.
- Unmold and cut into diamonds; serve very cold.
How it was made : Beijing snacks like wandouhuang and aiwowo were market sweets. The legend of Cixi's adoption is firmly rooted in Beijing culinary memory; at court, the texture was refined using ice preserved in imperial icehouses.
The contemporary twist : Poured into a sheet and cut with a plum-blossom cookie cutter, a nod to imperial porcelain motifs.
Cixi · Charactorium
