Pea Cake is mainly available in spring when the pea is ripe. It is an imperial dish which Empress Dowager Cixi loved very much.It is a mashed pea cake made from boiled and mashed peas and small Chinese jujubes. It is sweet because sugar is added to the peas after they have been stewed for mashing. The Fangshan Restaurant in the Beihai Park makes the most authentic Pea Cake. If there happens to be a temple fair in spring, the pea cake is sure to be served.
There are two kinds of pea cakes in Beijing,coarse and fine.To prepare the cake you need a choice yellow pea and a kind of special herb which is added to the pea paste 10 minutes before stir-frying.lf we add the herb too early the yellow color it brings will disappear.The peas should be thoroughly rinsed and the paste should be carefully filtered.A suitable amount of water and heat should be applied before a quality pea cake can be made.
