Begonia Cakes (海棠糕) @YuYuan Gardens (豫园), Shanghai, China (Food rating: 4.5/5)



When you are at Yuyuan (豫园) along Jiu Xiao Chang Road (旧校场路), there is a popular store that sells Shanghai's traditional snacks called Begonia Cakes (海棠糕).

Selling at RMB5 (SGD1) per piece, these pancakes were Shanghai's traditional snacks. We stumbled upon this pancake when we first visited Shanghai many years ago and we fell in love with it immediately. Today, we bought six pieces at one go and enjoyed every piece as we explored Yu Gardens.

Previously, the chef was an old man who used to freshly made the pancakes and you had to queue and wait in line. Now, he might have retired and another person took over the business. The fragrance of the pancakes remained even after so many years. We could see that they have maintained the quality. Yums!!


The Hai Tang Gao (海棠糕) was indeed a very popular snack in Shanghai. We could see people queuing for the pancakes. Unlike the typical red bean pancake, the only difference was the top crust of the pancake. The top crust was coated with sugar, peanuts and sesame seeds. This made it very fragrant and crunchy at the same time. The peanuts and sesame seeds seemed to have been roasted that enhanced the fragrance. The sweetness of the red bean paste was just nice and there was still red bean bits in the paste that added the crunchiness. I could say that this was still my all time favourite snack in Shanghai. (Food rating: 4.5/5)



Address: Jiu Xiao Chang Road (旧校场路), Shanghai, China. The stall is located across a row of single storey shophouses that sell ornaments and gifts. 
Price: $
Rating: 4.5/5
Stuffness Level (How full you are): 2/5 per piece

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