Fresh eats from Beijing & beyond
I’ve been slowly going through all the lemon recipes I can think of: tarts, lemon curd, preserved lemons, lemon millet pistachio tea cakes, and not once have my China-grown Meyers disappointed, despite the assertions of a certain somebody that they’re oranges. My latest favorite are these delicate, airy custards, so creamy that you wouldn’t guess they’re dairy-free and gluten-free (but not vegan).
I’ve grown up eating kumquats all my life, but it hadn’t ever occurred to me to do anything with them. They were usually associated with Chinese new year, when my grandparents sometimes had a little kumquat tree, its branches laden with golden fruit. But the success of the hawberry-kumquat pie, as well as a lemon tart that used not one but three whole lemons, led me to reconsider, and so was born this kumquat tart.
Or hot pagan buns? Hot nihilist buns? As they rather lack that defining cross, perhaps they really shouldn’t be called hot cross buns. But they’re not quite in the spirit of nihilism, either, being full of candied haw berries (but of course), along with some of the most delightful raisins I’ve come across. Usually I’m [...]
Tanghuoshao (糖火烧) are sweet brown-sugar buns generously swirled with roasted sesame paste. Baked in an oven, they have a crunchy, nutty outer shell, and a warm, soft interior melting with sugar and buttery sesame. A cousin of the savory roasted sesame buns (shaobing 烧饼 ), they make a fine afternoon snack or breakfast – for me, they were part of the weekly breakfast rotation during the summers at my grandparents’ house.
Filled with haw berry and kumquat jam, this pie is tart, sweet, and citrus-y, matching wonderfully well with a fragrant almond crust. As haw berries are so very representative of Beijing, I’ve decided to call this a hawberry Beijing pie.
Haw berries (shanzha; 山楂), or hawthorn berries, are near and dear to the heart of every Beijinger. So lusciously red, they ripen just in time for winter, adding the perfect dash of color to busy streets and gray, sunless skies. There’s no better way to preserve their tart, bright flavor than a thick haw berry jam, with a few kumquats for color and contrast. Ruby red, citrus-y, sweet, and tangy, it goes beautifully well with bread or sourdough english muffins, or in a linzer tart.
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