Crystal pancakes are traditional Shaanxi pastry bearing a 800-year history. Legend has it that in the Northern Song Dynasty, Kou Zhun, the famous clean official, once went back to his hometown from Beijing. It happened to be his 50th birthday. So his friends and relatives brought peaches, steamed bread, and inscribed wooden boards for his birthday celebration. During the course of the banguet, a servant brought in an intricate wooden box in which Kou found 50 crystal-clear pancakes. The red paper sheet that covered the cakes read, “Penetrating are your eyes, and pure is your heart; being able to tell the loyal from the wicked, you are upright from the start.” The name of the sender was “an old man from Weibei”. Later, Kou's chef learned its cooking technique. The name “Crystal pancakes” given by kou is still in use today. |