Pea Flour Cake

Wandou huang began as a Beijing folk and temple-fair snack; the refined version was developed by the Qing imperial kitchen (1644–1911) from that street original and became famous through Empress Cixi's fondness for it. Court archives show it on a Qianlong-era palace menu roughly a century before Cixi, so the dish reached the palace well before the well-known Cixi anecdote. Originally a seasonal spring food (peas were fresh) before refrigeration made it year-round.

Qing palace snack — 慈禧 was a documented patron; recipes leaked into the city in the late 19th century. Yellow split peas, soaked, boiled to collapse, sieved twice (palace standard) to pull every hull fiber. Color must come from the pea, not dye.

Pale yellow blocks, the size and shape of mahjong tiles, set on a small plate with no garnish. The texture is firmer than pudding, softer than fudge — it cuts cleanly with the side of a spoon and dissolves on the tongue in about ten seconds. Sweet, but lightly so; the pea flavor is unmistakable, not hidden. Served cold from a tray, summer afternoon food.

Yellow split peas are soaked, boiled to collapse, then sieved into a smooth paste — sieving twice is the palace standard, removing every last hull fiber. Sugar is added and the paste is set by the peas' own starch as it cools — authentic wandou huang uses no agar; that starch-set is exactly what separates it from yokan, which is firmed with agar/kanten. Too thin and it slumps; too much sugar-water and it won't hold a block. The color must come from the pea itself, not added dye.