Chinese bakery products (Chinese: 中式糕點; pinyin: Zhōngshì gāodiǎn; lit. 'Chinese style cakes and snacks' or Chinese: 唐餅; pinyin: Táng bǐng; lit. 'Tang-style baked goods') consist of pastries, cakes, snacks, and desserts of largely Chinese origin, though some are derived from Western baked goods. Some of the most common "Chinese" bakery products include mooncakes, sun cakes (Beijing and Taiwan varieties), egg tarts, and wife cakes.
Arome Bakery in Hong Kong
Chinese bakeries are present in countries with ethnic Chinese people, and are particularly common in Chinatowns. The establishments may also serve tea, coffee, and other drinks.
There are regional differences in cities with large Chinese presences, particularly those in Asia like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Jakarta, Manila, and Bangkok. Bakery fillings especially may be influenced by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, or Thailand. In North America, the largest Chinatowns, such as San Francisco, Vancouver, New York, and Toronto, have the widest range of offerings, including influences from France, Italy, Japan, and Mexico.
There are also large overlaps in the products sold at Hong Kong-style and Taiwan-style bakeries; there nevertheless remain significant differences between these two major types. For instance, bread cake and pineapple cake were developed in Taiwan-style bakeries, while the cocktail bun and pineapple bun is a Hong Kong style product. Hong Kong bakeries have more Western influence due to the 150 years of British rule that ended in 1997, and the nearby presence of the former Portuguese colony of Macau. Taiwan-style bakeries may have more influence from American bakery, Japanese bakery, or Korean bakery styles.
Chinese bakeries show considerable variation within mainland China due to the cultural and geographical diversity of the country. For example, Furu bing (腐乳饼) are sold in the Chaoshan region, while nang[clarification needed] (馕) is sold in Xinjiang. Shanghainese bakeries are strongly influenced by European bakeries, particularly French and German traditions.
Some bakeries also offer small snacks traditionally associated with dim sum cuisine. There is considerable overlap between these categories.
Some types of steamed or baked buns have a very similar appearance, making it difficult to determine what they have been filled with. Informal de facto standards have developed for indicating the filling by some external mark on the buns, such as a colored dot or a sprinkling of a few sesame seeds.
Unless otherwise indicated, most of the following foods are baked. Some foods are steamed, boiled, deep-fried, pan-fried, or do not require further cooking at all.
Almond biscuit – Golden, delicate cookie with a light almond taste
Bakpia – Round, flat, flaky or soft dough bun, with various fillings
Jin deuiorzi ma qiu – Deep-fried hollow ball of glutinous rice, coated with sesame seeds, and optionally with a sweet red bean or a savory meat filling
Mahua or fried dough twist – Very different from youtiao, with a more solid texture
Mantou – Plain, slightly sweet, steamed wheat flour yeast buns (unfilled); the traditional basis for Chinese steamed buns (baozi) with fillings
Mooncake – Traditional variations are heavy lotus seed paste filled pastry, sometimes with 1–2 egg yolks in its centre. Modern variations have altered both the pastry crust and filling for more variety. These are specially featured at the Mid-Autumn Festival, but may be available year-round.
Pineapple bun – Does not contain pineapples, but derived its name from the "pineapple-like" criss-crossed scored appearance of the top surface, which is a tender crispy, sweet, golden crust. The pineapple bun may be filled with custardorred bean paste.
Some Western-influenced baked goods are essentially identical to their Western counterparts, whereas others differ subtly (for example, by being less sweet). The items listed here are often found in Chinese bakeries, in at least some parts of the world.
Almond cake – Light cupcake, coated with whipped cream, and then rolled in thinly sliced or shredded almond chips
Cream bun – Usually elliptical-shaped yeast bun, filled with whipped cream or butter, sprinkled with shredded dried coconut
Cream horn – Long tapered cone of puff pastry, filled with whipped cream, and sometimes fruit or jam
