Cakes for Mother's Day 🥰
Sweet and savory cakes to celebrate this weekend
To celebrate mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and anyone you wish to honor for their enduring care & love this Sunday, we’re excited to share two special dishes that have been in our family for a long time. Celebrate with a sweet eight-treasure rice cake and savory ground beef pancakes to say thank you and happy Mother’s Day!
Eight-Treasure Sweet Rice Cake
For a cozy, lightly sweet dessert, look no further than this Eight-Treasure Sweet Rice Cake (八宝饭 - bā bǎo fàn). Steamed sweet rice and eight types of dry fruits and nuts come together in this Chinese delicacy.
The auspicious meaning behind this dessert comes from its ingredients. Traditionally, this cake includes 1) lotus seeds (莲子 - lián zǐ) for a harmonious marriage, 2) red dates (红枣 - hóng zǎo) for family prosperity, 3) kumquats (金桔 - jīn jú) for blessings & bounties, 4) longan (龙眼 - lóng yǎn) for close familial bonds, 5) sugared cherries (蜜樱桃 - mì yīng táo) & 6) winter melon (玉瓜条 - yù guā tiáo) for sweet family life, and 7) white pearl barley (白薏米 - bái yì mǐ) & 8) green pumpkin seeds (绿瓜子 - lǜ guā zǐ) for longevity. The number 8 is lucky in Chinese culture, so 8 ingredients carry a wish for a peaceful and happy life.
Because ingredients weren’t always easy to access, many variations popped up as people used locally produced fruits, nuts, and seeds. Our recipe comes from Lisa’s great-aunt. It uses dried apricots instead of kumquats and goji berries instead of cherries; walnuts and red bean paste are also added for an extra special flavor.
Food Lore
Legend tells us that the Eight-Treasure Rice Cake has been around for more than 3000 years 😮, since the late period of the Shang Dynasty (商朝- Shāng Cháo) during B.C. 1600 - 1049. The cruelty of the last Shang Dynasty king led the head of the Zhou tribe, Jī Fā (姬发), to incite a rebel war against him. The war ended with the Battle of Mù Yě (牧野), and the Zhou tribe established the Zhou Dynasty (周朝 - Zhōu Cháo).
To celebrate, Jī Fā requested his chefs prepare a special rice cake to honor his eight key advisors. The chefs used eight precious fruits and seeds, one to honor each advisor. This cake became so special that it was only served by and for the imperial family on special occasions. Not until the end of the Qing Dynasty (清朝 - Qīng Cháo), the last imperial dynasty in China, was the recipe finally free to be shared.
Notes
You can use any dried fruits, nuts, or seeds that you have at hand! Part of the fun is arranging them in the pattern of your choice on the cake. An Eight-Treasure Cake is like a treasure box, and we hope every family receives the treasures of peace, love, blessings, happiness, good health, and more this Mother’s Day.
Ground Beef Pancakes
In a cuisine with dumplings, baozi, and wontons, you might think we don’t need another savory dough pocket - and you would be wrong. Every bite of these fried pancakes gives tender ground beef, fresh green onion, and crispy pastry.
This recipe has been in our family for a long time 🥰. We love a soft dough that is extra tasty when fried, and our filling recipe is similar to the filling we use for dumplings. The spiced water added to the ground beef gives this filling our signature flavor. And a pro-tip - if you dip the pancakes in a sauce of black vinegar, light soy sauce, and hot pepper oil (in a ratio of 4:2:1), it tastes even better 😋.
Different versions of these fried ground beef pancakes (牛肉馅儿饼 - niú ròu xiàn‘er bīng) can be found all over China. From the top left going clockwise, we have a Beijing version (门钉肉饼 - mén dīng ròu bǐng), Xi'an version (西安香酥牛肉饼 - xī ān xiāng sū niú ròu bǐng, Muslim version (回民牛肉馅饼 - huí mín níu ròu xiàn bǐng), and Xianghe version (香河牛肉馅饼 - xiāng hé niú ròu xiàn bǐng), just to name a few.
Food Lore
A man of culture, Emperor Taizong (唐太宗-Táng Tài Zōng), the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty (唐朝 - Táng Cháo) in A.D. 618-907, is said to have loved ground beef pancakes. On a walk through Xi’an, he passed by a marketplace and saw a long line of people in front of a food stand. Curious and now hungry from the tasty smell of the frying pancakes, the emperor joined the line (we commend him for not cutting). Upon finally tasting the pancakes, it was love at first bite, and soon, this snack became a popular tea-time snack at the imperial palace.
Notes
The ingredient proportions make for very meaty pancakes. If you want to opt for an easier time wrapping the pancakes, feel free to either halve the filling or double the dough.