Chef keeps family's rice cake treat alive

Chang Zheng quit his job as a factory worker six years ago when his father died, so he could continue the decades-old family business.

Every day, Chang, 49, gets up at 6 am and starts cooking lianggao, a rice cake of sweetmeat with two layers of sticky rice and a layer of red bean paste in the middle. Before 7:30 am, more than 50 kilograms of the delicacy are ready for sale in his shop in Baoding, Hebei province.

"Many people like to buy a piece of lianggao for their breakfast while on their way to work," he said."The rice needs to be immersed in water for five to six hours, and then boiled and steamed with controlled heat."

He follows his father's lianggao recipe precisely.

Born in Baoding, Chang remembers how his father explored and perfected various lianggao recipes until he hit upon one he thought was good enough to sell and support his family.

"No matter, rain or snow, my father would always go out with a tricycle he fitted out as a mobile food stall. He climbed on the tricycle and pedaled the streets of the city to sell his lianggao," Chang said.

After his father finished selling for the day, Chang said he would ask for his help to unpack the tricycle when he returned home. "I miss him shouting my name, but it will never happen again," he said.

By the time his father died in 2014 after making and selling lianggao for 30 years, the snack had become very popular.

Even though he was hesitant at first, Chang eventually decided to step into his father's footsteps. He said he learned to make lianggao by following his father's recipe and observing his cooking techniques over the years. "I think this is the best way to remember my father, and I don't want to see the skill lost after my generation," Chang said.

However, instead of selling his snacks from a tricycle, Chang rented a small shop near his home in Lianchi district, Baoding, and opened up Lianggao Chang. "I want to give the business a permanent home and develop it better."

One regular customer surnamed Li said:"It's slightly sweet and tastes like a sticky cake. Anyway it's delicious. I always want a piece of lianggao in the afternoon."

According to Chang, lianggao has become even more popular over the past six years. "Normally, before noon, the 50 kg of lianggao are sold out," he said. "People like it because we make it in the traditional way, such as using a big iron wok to cook the red bean paste rather than in pans heated by electricity."

As a popular lianggao chef, Chang has started to make new kinds of sweetmeats, including lyudagun, niangao, zhagao, zongzi and doubao. All have similar stuffings but taste different.