Sesame seed cake in Quzhou enjoys a long history dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), and many of the city's social and cultural activities revolve around the snack.

The "Shaoyongfeng" sesame seed cake is the only sesame seed cake that Quzhou natives will buy. It is made of black sesame seeds, walnut kernels, peanut kernels, orange peels, and flour.

"Shaoyongfeng" was founded during the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when a sesame seed cake maker named Shao Fanggong invented a new way to bake the cake by hanging it in a charcoal stove.

Sesame seed cakes baked this way have a unique flavor that was instantly popular among Quzhou natives at the time.

Xu Chengzheng belongs to the fourth generation of "Shaoyongfeng" makers, who started as an apprentice at Quzhou Catering Co after graduating from middle school.

All the making tools he inherited from his teacher are century-old, including a charcoal stove, a stuffing mixing jar, a stone mill, a bamboo basket, and more.

It took Xu six years to master the art of making sesame seed cakes.

The most difficult part of the preparation process is coating the baked cakes with sesame seeds. The chef must rotate the bamboo dustpan with 30 baked cakes in it over and over again, during which 30 cakes form an unequal hexagon.

All the cakes are then turned over at once after being covered evenly with sesame seeds and the process is repeated again for the other side.

In 2000, Xu registered a trademark for "Shaoyongfeng" and called upon senior employees of Quzhou Catering Co to make and promote "Shaoyongfeng" sesame seed cakes.

In 2006, "Shaoyongfeng" became one of the first "Chinese time-honored brands", and its preparation techniques were listed as a Zhejiang intangible cultural heritage item.

Xu Chengzheng demonstrates how to coat baked cakes with sesame seeds. [Photo/iprchn.com]