Flaky butter pastries (naiyou subing)
Are you puzzled by the differences between flaky pastries (subing), maltose pastries (maiya bing), and suncakes (taiyang bing)? Alan Chen is the third-generation owner of Yu Jan Shin Foods, where flaky butter pastries (naiyou subing) were first dreamed up. He tells us that the late Taiwanese historian Lin Heng-tao (1915–1997) established that suncakes were derived, at one remove, from flaky pastries.
According to Lin’s research, early immigrants from across the Taiwan Strait brought with them not only statues of Mazu to worship but also Fujian-style sesame-seed cakes that had been presented as ritual offerings to the sea goddess, which served as food for the voyage. These gradually evolved into a circular shape, which is symbolic of perfection.
Disc-shaped flaky pastries were popular in coastal areas of Central Taiwan. Subsequently they spread along the mountain line of the railway to places further inland such as Fengyuan, which was well supplied with goods and endowed with the requisite natural resources. It was there that subing eventually inspired the invention of maltose pastries.
Maltose pastries can be regarded as a more immediate forerunner of suncakes. Documentary evidence tells us that a pastry chef named Wei Qinghai invented Taichung’s famous suncakes as a variation on maltose pastries.
Located near Dajia’s Jenn Lann Temple, Yu Jan Shin Foods opened its doors in 1966. Alan Chen says that his grandfather Chen Jizhen wasn’t actually trained to make pastries, but thanks to the indefatigable work of three generations of the Chen family, the shop’s flaky butter pastries have become one of the “Three Treasures of Dajia,” the others being Mazu, and hats and mats woven from triangular club-rush.
Holding one of his flaky butter pastries in his hand, Alan Chen explains that these have undergone five incarnations. The first were traditional flaky pastries sold by weight. The second had a standard size. For the third edition, lard was replaced by natural butter to cater to the needs of vegetarian customers. This innovation gave rise to the name “flaky butter pastries.”
The fourth incarnation took into account the rising public awareness of healthy eating, substituting oligosaccharides for the usual sugars. The flavors were as rich as ever, but healthier. The fifth version is an improvement on the pastry-making process itself. Seeking to address the problem of the puff pastry easily flaking off, the family gained inspiration from the hexagonal configuration of honeycomb cells and developed a firmer “honeycomb pastry.”
The ingredients of traditional flaky pastries—lard, flour, and malt sugar—are uncomplicated, but Yu Jan Shin Foods is very serious about these apparently simple treats. It was thanks to an oracular poem that Chen Jizhen obtained at the local Mazu temple—followed by six consecutive affirmative answers from the goddess through the casting of divination blocks—that the Chen family devoted themselves to the pastry business in the first place. They have never lost sight of their covenant with Mazu.
Measuring 15 centimeters in diameter, classic flaky butter pastries are ideal for sharing with family and friends. Yu Jan Shin has also worked with an airline to launch mini butter pastries suitable for in-flight meals, at a size of 6 cm.
The crust of the fifth edition of Yu Jan Shin’s flaky butter pastries is inspired by the structure of honeycombs. It is less brittle.