Production Technique of Qiaojiashan Pastries

Shanghai people prefer sweet foods, so we need to mention the famous traditional cooking-type pastries of Qiaojiashan, Shanghai, which serve as gifts for relatives and friends and delicious food for receiving guests in Shanghai. In 2013, Qiaojiashan handmade pastries were listed by Xuhui District People’s Government in the list of the fourth batch of District-level Intangible Cultural Heritage in Xuhui District. With a long history, cooking-type pastries are a typical representative of traditional handmade pastries. Traditional cooking-type pastries are produced in all pastry stores in Shanghai, but the most famous store is Qiaojiashan Restaurant. Qiaojiashan Restaurant has set up strict operation regulations and quality specifications in material selection, production, etc. The main materials are superior baiyuan or yinyuan sticky rice and selected Qingpu white rice, which are mixed with superior sugar of Guangxi according to a certain proportion. Then sweetened bean paste made by stir-frying selected Dahongpao adzuki bean is added, together with various auxiliary materials such as dried fruit preserves. The entire production process is composed of dozens of steps, each of which is demanding and incomparable. Lard fruit muffin, dumpling covered with sweetened bean paste powders, dumpling, square cake made of sweetened bean paste, birthday cake and peach, etc. are honored the title of “Top Ten Famous Pastries” of Qiaojiashan. Mr. Zhou Xinfang, famous Beijing Opera artist, once inscribed “Delicacy spread in South China” for the pastries. The production techniques of Qiaojiashan’s traditional cooking-type pastries are the crystallization of wisdom which cannot be replaced by modern technology.