Advertisement
Sweet Soups & Bean Feasts
Wheat flour and butter rarely feature in Chinese desserts, but the range of sweet buns or dumplings can be extensive on special occasions. On festive days, anything sugary is symbolically regarded as a ‘honeyed bribe’ for departing deities on their way to their celestial homes.
Symbolism plays a large part in the sweet menu of eastern China. The dish Five-flavoured Soup, for example, is based on the theories of numerology, and is believed to treat the ills of the five vital organs of the human body.