Guilin Water Chestnut Cake

Guilin Water Chestnut Cake is a common traditional pastry on the streets, made from local water chestnuts (bíqí), with a sweet, smooth texture and a faint fruity aroma. The process involves peeling water chestnuts, cutting them into small pieces or grinding into mud, mixing with water chestnut starch, sugar, and water into a paste, pouring into a square steaming tray, steaming over high heat for 20 minutes, cooling, and cutting into diamond shapes. The steamed cake is translucent amber, with visible water chestnut pieces; it's chewy and moderately sweet, with a refreshing fruity aroma spreading in the mouth. Chilled in summer, it's even more cooling and heat-relieving. Guilin's water chestnuts, grown in paddy fields along the Lijiang River, are crisp and juicy, making the cake naturally sweet without excessive sugar. Old dessert shops display water chestnut cakes under glass covers, neatly arranged on plates, and passers-by often buy some as snacks. Foreigners will be curious about its translucent texture, and after a bite, attracted by the chewy texture and faint fruity aroma, finding this pastry like a "Chinese jelly cake"—refreshing and not cloying, perfect as a post-meal dessert.